In and About Israel

2006-01-27T17:45:00.000-08:00

Friday
January 27, 2005

We are Bible-believing Christians who support Israel and the Jewish people. Our mission is to send you news reports and links that will give you information from many different kinds of sources and points-of-view, including some you may not agree with. Pick and choose. Don’t even try to read everything!

Always online at…
http://www.inandaboutisrael.blogspot.com/
with past issues in

“Previous Posts”

Current local time in Jerusalem

Weather around Israel

LINKS AT THE BOTTOM

As you read, please remember...
Israel is important to God...
don't lose heart...
He is in charge of history...
He has a plan and everything is under control!

B'surot Tovot!

GOOD NEWS FROM ISRAEL!
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/section.php?id=8

MORE GOOD NEWS FROM ISRAEL
http://www.newsoftheday.com/israel/

AND EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS!
http://www.israel21c.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=HomePage

What’s Really Hot!

Please note that we do not usually include complete articles. You may go to the links to see the rest.

Israel National TV
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tv.php?video_id=502&band=300

GRAPH: PALESTINE SEATS WON

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2010844,00.html

HAMAS WINS PA ELECTION–URGENT CALL TO PRAYER AND ACTION
http://m1e.net/c?45761946-etOIYo1MyHNzU%401410596-PT0QDkYZyWeaI
The eyes of the world are on Israel today as the Palestinians have elected Hamas, a terror organization, which calls for the total destruction of the State of Israel, to rule over them. Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, capturing 76 of the 132 seats in a democratic election. The next largest party (Fatah, formerly the ruling party) received 43, and splinter groups 13 seats. Hamas, recognized as a terror organization by the leaders of the world, is now the democratically elected leader of the Palestinian people, who are predominantly Muslim. Hamas is responsible for 425 terror attacks against Israelis since September 2000, resulting in 377 deaths and 2,076 injuries.
This current crisis occurs at a time when Israel’s beloved Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, lies in a vegetative coma and is not expected to recover. Israel is preparing for new elections to be held on March 28. Ehud Olmert, Acting Prime Minister, has not had the time to solidify support for his leadership, and there is great uncertainty about who will be the prime minister, and who will be members of the Knesset after the elections.
The victory of Hamas, a terrorist group who has now become a political force, will impact Israel and the world. It is time to recognize that Hamas, funded and supported by Iran and Syria, is a threat not only to the State of Israel, but also to the peace and stability of the entire region.
What happens when people choose evil? Remember, in 1932, the German people voted the Nazi party into power with Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in a fair, democratic election. By and large, the world did not recognize the danger. Let’s learn a lesson from the past. It is time to stand with God and against evil. The Bible says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20–21).
In the midst of this crisis and the resulting turmoil, we know one thing for certain. Israel needs God’s help now! We call on Bible-believing Christians everywhere to turn their faces toward God and call out in intercession for the nation and people of Israel. The Lord has emblazoned Isaiah 62 on my heart: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness and her salvation like a torch that is burning…On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:1,6–7, NASB).
We are involved in a spiritual conflict which has put Israel in the no-man’s land. We see the evidence of the struggle all around us in the world. What is our response? We can stand on the sidelines and watch, or we can choose to actively become involved with God. At Bridges for Peace, we give you many opportunities to participate in God’s plans for Israel. This is the battleground, and this is the place where God is showing the world that He keeps His word. In this email you will find prayer points, and action suggestions, as well as facts about Hamas. On our web site under a button entitled ACTION Resource Pack, you will find a power point presentation, radio clip, sermon outlines and the attached items. Join with us as we stand with God and Israel.
By Rebecca Brimmer, International President and CEO, Bridges for Peace.

PRAYER POINTS

1. Pray for the electoral process in Israel, that God to place the right leader at the helm in Israel, a man who will be able to lead with courage, justice and righteousness. “Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His, and He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding’” (Daniel 2:20–21).
2. Pray that the people of Israel will turn to the Almighty God for direction. Pray that they will put their trust in Him. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).
3. Pray that the nations will not pressure Israel to make concessions to a terror regime. “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?” (Psalm 2:1).
4. Pray for the safety of the people of Israel – bloody conflict may be just over the horizon. “I will lift up my eyes to the hills–From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:1– 4).
5. For the safety of Christian workers in Israel–75 staff members at BFP and their families, 55 staff members at the Christian Embassy, 40 at Christian Friends of Israel and many attached to local churches. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust’…For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:1–2, 11).
6. Pray for the Palestinian Christians whose position will likely become even more tenuous. “Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and oppressors have sought after my life; they have not set God before them” (Psalm 54:1–4).
7. Pray for the Quartet meeting on Monday (January 30), as world leaders gather to decide how to advance the Road Map. “I urge them, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for kings, and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (I Timothy 2:1–2).

ACTION POINTS

1. Show you love the Jewish people in practical ways. Bridges for Peace has many projects to choose from. Click here http://m1e.net/c?45761946-MmLwFjwEn1EQU%401410597-HawyaXmtYi4Vo to bless the nation and people of Israel. Christians volunteers living in Israel can be your hands to bless the people.
2. Write to the Knesset, the Prime minister and the Christian Allies Caucus of the Knesset and show your support. A sample letter is supplied below to give you ideas of how to write, but it is better if you write in your own words.
3. Write to your political leaders and local media outlets. Sample letter below.
4. Go to http://m1e.net/c?45761946-HR76Evq.CCWUs%401410596-mJYgjQv96TxlI and sign up on our 24-Hour Prayer Chain for Israel.
5. Contact your BFP national office for more ideas. See the addresses listed at the end of this Update.
Bridges for Peace International Headquarters, P.O. Box 1093, Jerusalem, Israel. Telephone: 972-2-624-5004

Hamas: We'll Liberate Palestine
Ali Waked

Hamas said Thursday it won 60.3% of the vote in the Palestinian parliament elections. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group will "complete the liberation of other parts of Palestine." Asked about the peace process, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zaher said, "There is no process."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3207101,00.html

Will PA Security Personnel Take Orders from Hamas?
Danny Rubinstein

Almost all senior officers in the Palestinian security services are Fatah members, and it is hard to see these people either giving up their status or giving up their allegiance to Fatah and becoming loyal servants of a Hamas government instead. Many doubt whether an orderly transfer of power is possible and fear that the PA is on the brink of civil war.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/675500.html

Jerusalem Arabs Vote Hamas
Etgar Lefkovits

Thousands of Arab residents of Jerusalem voted overwhelmingly for Hamas in Wednesday's elections, in a city that had always been considered Fatah turf. All four open Jerusalem seats went to Hamas
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1137605925974&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Is Democracy the Answer to Islamist Terrorism?
Anton La Guardia

For the past two years, America has pursued the idea that democracy is the answer to Islamist terrorism. Now the Palestinian people have spoken clearly - and they have voted for the terrorists.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=CTVP1RB03TFFV
QFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/opinion/2006/01/27/do2702.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/01/27/ixop.html

14 prisoners in Israeli jails elected

By YIGAL GRAYEFF

Fourteen security prisoners in Israeli jails are believed to have been elected to the 132-seat parliament, while one inmate of a Palestinian prison was also successful, said Butheina Dukmak, director-general of the Mandela Institute for Human Rights, a prisoner advocacy group.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605925529&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

What Hamas Will Do With Its New Power
Jamil Hamad

Dealing with Israel - in either sense of that term - is not a priority for Hamas, right now, nor will it be for some time to come. Instead, the radical Islamist group will focus on "cleaning the Palestinian house." What this means, concretely, is ridding the PA of rampant corruption, and establishing law and order on the chaotic streets of the West Bank and Gaza. Ironically, that means that a Hamas government may end up carrying out reforms in the PA long demanded by the U.S. and Israel - ensuring accountability and transparency in government, and reining in the militias.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1153223,00.html

Hamas Without Veils: No More Hiding Behind the PA
Emanuele Ottolenghi

By winning, Hamas has to govern, which means they have to tell the world, very soon, a number of things. They will have to say whether they accept the roadmap. They will have to take control over security and decide whether they use it to wage war.
http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.p?ref=/comment/ottolenghi200601261002.asp

Palestinian Leader to Ask Hamas to Form a New Government

By STEVEN ERLANGER and GREG MYRE

The move came a day after results showed that the radical Islamic party had routed the president's Fatah party in elections.
Hamas took 76 out of 132 seats, compared with 43 for Fatah.
Mr. Abbas, the leader of Fatah, told reporters, "We are consulting and in contact with all the Palestinian groups and definitely, at the appropriate time, the biggest party will form the cabinet."
A senior leader of Hamas, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, said in Gaza today that it would take two or three weeks to form a government.
"It will not just be our government," he said, talking with reporters outside his home after midday prayers. "We will work with Fatah, independents and other parties to make it a national government."
http://www.nytimes.com/

U.S. Could Halt Aid to Palestinians
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
Friday, January 27, 2006
The way ahead appears bumpy and uncertain, but the Bush administration will resume its search for a formula to bring peace to the Middle East following the jolting triumph of Hamas in Palestinian parliamentary elections.
One potential step is already clear — both President Bush and members of Congress may consider halting the millions of dollars in aid the U.S. has been sending the Palestinians annually in recent years.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/27/national/w074427S26.DTL

Europe may halt aid unless Hamas changes

Jan. 27, 2006
By GREGORY KATZCopyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
LONDON - Palestinians looking to Europe for reassurances that vital economic aid would continue despite the lopsided victory of Hamas found few encouraging signs Thursday.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3616425.html

Olmert: A Hamas government will be rendered irrelevant

Acting PM holds emergency cabinet meeting, continuous consultations with foreign and defense ministries on the reality of 'Hamastan'.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605925356&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

The Earthquake

By David Horovitz (The Jerusalem Post)

And so it came to pass. The earthquake whose warning rumblings the secular Palestinian leadership insistently refused to heed has struck. The era of Fatah is over. The Islamists are taking control."No one will vote for Hamas," Nidal Abu-Dahan, Mahmoud Abbas's bodyguard, declared derisively in this column two weeks ago
"The era of Fatah is over. The Islamists are taking control"Mamoud Abbas(White House Photo)
(Why the Palestinians are voting for Hamas), defiantly discounting a series of local election results across the West Bank that had already proved the contrary.
Hamas will get "50.5 percent," Ziad Dayyeh, one of those newly elected local councillors, predicted in the same column, averaging out the municipal election showings and actually, as it has turned out, underestimating the disgust with which ordinary Palestinians have come to regard the Fatah fat cats.
Until yesterday, Israel and the rest of the West were grappling with the problem of how to relate to a Hamas minority in a still Fatah-dominated new Palestinian Authority government, as deaf as Abbas and his colleagues to the scale of the shift on the Palestinian street. Now there can be no escaping the Islamist reality, even if Abbas proves prepared to serve as the fig-leaf, the acceptable, secular, face of the Palestinians' new leadership.
Until yesterday, Israel and much of the West were issuing demands that Hamas put down its arms as a pre-condition for substantive contacts, that it abide by the democratic pre-condition for one rule of law, one legitimate force of arms. Now Hamas's leaders might assert that, in apparently fair elections, the Palestinian public has entrusted them with the rule of law, that they bear the single legitimate force of arms.
Ordinary Palestinians will tell you that they voted for Hamas because the Fatah PA cheated them and stole from them, whereas the Islamists have proved themselves exemplars of good governance at the local level. Many will stress that their vote for Hamas was not a ballot for a renewed campaign of suicide bombings and shooting attacks on Israeli targets.
And many Hamas officials will doubtless highlight, as Ziad Dayyeh did when I met with him in El-Bireh two weeks ago, that the patron of those suicide bombings and of Hamas itself, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, provided religious legitimacy for a suspension of such attacks and a temporary accommodation with Israel.
But Hamas's founding charter is uncompromising in its intolerance of Israel. It strives "to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine" and prescribes "resistance and quelling the enemy" as "the individual duty of every Muslim, male and female."
Some may seek comfort in the belief that an ascent to government could prompt a greater sense of responsibility, a move to moderation. But Hamas's intolerance is based on a perceived religious imperative. No believing Muslim, in the Hamas conception, can be reconciled to Jewish sovereignty in the Middle East. To deny that, for Hamas, is blasphemy.
And that is the ideology to which the Palestinian people, for whatever reason and by their own free hand, have just tied their fate. That is the guiding ideology with which Israel and the West will now have to grapple.

Israelis despair over Hamas election victory
26 Jan 2006
By Jonathan Saul
JERUSALEM, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Israeli Avi Zana listened with horror on Thursday to news that the Hamas militant group that killed his son had won Palestinian elections.
On the streets of the Jewish state, there was grave concern at the victory of the Hamas movement that carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings during a Palestinian uprising and is formally dedicated to destroying Israel.
"The Palestinians have shown their true face by electing Hamas," said Zana, 46. "The group does not want control of the Palestinian Authority, it wants control of all Israel."
Among those expected to win seats in the new Palestinian parliament was Mariam Farhat, also known as Umm Nidal, who in a video tape message urged her sons to carry out attacks -- including the one on a Jewish settlement in which Zana's 18-year-old-son was killed.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26228433.htm

Palestinian Democracy: Hamas Wins Landslide 76 of 132 Seats
Rajoub: Fatah will not join Hamas-led government
By Amos Harel, Arnon Regular and Amira Hass, Haaretz
Correspondents and Agencies
Following its sweeping victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, the radical Islamic Hamas organization said Thursday it would seek to hold talks on forming a coalition, but Fatah officials rejected the possibility of joining a Hamas-led government.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/674336.html

PHOTO: Ahmed Jadallah, Reuters
Palestinian boys celebrate the results of the election.

World Leaders Demand Hamas Recognize Israel
Ousted Fatah Party Won't Join With Militant Group in Government
By RAVI NESSMAN, AP
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Jan. 26) - In a moment of deep symbolism, thousands of Hamas supporters marched to the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah on Thursday and raised the Islamic militant group's green banner over the building.
Fatah activists, angry that their party had just been roundly defeated in the Palestinians' first competitive parliamentary vote, tried to pull the flag down. The two sides fought for about 30 minutes, throwing stones at each other and breaking windows in the building.
But in the end, Hamas prevailed.
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060125045509990003

Leader likely to cut ties to Israel
By Paul Martin and Betsy PisikTHE WASHINGTON TIMES

January 27, 2006
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar has proposed a dramatic shift of Palestinian policy -- ending security cooperation with Israel, cutting most trade links with the Jewish state and refusing to engage with the "Christian-Zionist" U.S. administration.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060126-104451-7917r.htm

Our World: We needn't lose the war

By CAROLINE GLICK
Apparently, the Olmert government's answer to the specter of Hamas's projected electoral achievement in tomorrow's elections to the Palestinian parliament is to advance the electoral fortunes and legitimacy of the imprisoned mass murderer and Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.
On Sunday, in an unprecedented step, the government allowed Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya reporters to interview Barghouti in his prison cell. There he extolled terrorism, explained that the Fatah platform calls for terrorism in parallel with negotiations, pressed for a continuation of the Palestinian terror war against Israel, and promised Palestinian voters and the Arab world writ large that Fatah could be counted on to destroy Israel.http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605900642&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Who's who in Hamas
By Sam Knight
The stunning victory for Hamas in the Palestinian parliamentary elections has catapulted the organisation's leadership, until recently a closely-kept secret, into a pivotal role in international politics.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2010914,00.html

Hamas: Bush won't dictate to us
Group spokesman tells Ynet Palestinians back Hamas positions on resistance to occupation, says group does not accept dictates from America
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3206743,00.html

Bush Says U.S. Won't Deal With Hamas - Rice Says Position Unchanged
President Bush said Thursday that Hamas cannot be partner for Middle East peacemaking without renouncing violence, and he reiterated that the United States will not deal with Palestinian leaders who do not recognize Israel's right to exist.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/26/D8FCEOVOB.html

Analysis: Hamas victory one of most important events in Middle East since Six Day War
By Amir Oren
Not only does it change the picture, but also it puts it into a completely different frame. Palestine under Hamas rule puts an end not only to the road map and the Oslo process, but also to the formula embodied by UN Resolution 242: "land for peace" and an accompanying end to the conflict. Not only does it perpetuate the conflict, but also it reshapes it - from an Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a Jewish-Arab one, and even a Western-Muslim one. Such a conflict, backed by the global Jihad movement and Khomeinist Iran, has neither a solution nor an end.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/675450.html

DAVOS - Muslim leaders argue Hamas may change in power
By Mark Trevelyan
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Muslim leaders urged Israel and the world on Thursday to accept the victory of militant group Hamas in Palestinian elections, saying it may present a different face in government than on the streets.
At a summit of global leaders and business chiefs in Switzerland, the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan joined the head of the Arab League in arguing that Hamas should be given a chance to change.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/1/27/worldupdates/2006-01-27T010242Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-233991-1&sec=Worldupdates

Why the Hamas Victory is a Good Thing

by Steven Plaut

Perhaps the best indication of the extent to which the world has been Orwellized is the toady news coverage of the Palestinian "election", including in the Israeli media, itself largely the occupied territory of the far-left.For months, the media were all in suspense over whether the victors in the "election" would be the Hamas terrorists or the PLO terrorists. As it turned out, Hamas evidently won the "election" by a huge majority. The first part of the absurdity in the message daily inculcated by the Israeli political elite is that there is any significant difference between the PLO and Hamas. There is not.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5970

Olmert: Israeli withdrawal from West Bank to 'keep country Jewish' - But new study calls Palestinian 'population bomb' a lie
By Aaron Klein
HERZLIYA, Israel – Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a national address here yesterday announced his administration will push for a Palestinian state and Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, saying Arabs might soon outnumber Jews and threaten Israel's Jewish character unless the Palestinians quickly are offered a state of their own.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48498

Islamic Bombers Triumph at Ballot
Stephen Farrell and Ian MacKinnon

Militant Islam scored one of its biggest victories when election results showed that Hamas had crushed the Fatah party that had ruled Palestinian politics for 40 years. The victory of a group dedicated to Israel's destruction shocked Western leaders and put paid to any hopes of swiftly reviving the Middle East peace process. President Bush, Tony Blair, and other world leaders united in demanding that Hamas, responsible for more than 50 suicide bombings and 430 Israeli deaths in recent years, renounce violence and recognize Israel or face isolation.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2010844,00.html

AAH CALLS ON U.S. GOVERNMENT TO TREAT CAIR AS HAMAS
CAIR FOUNDED BY HAMAS FRONT, WITH SEED MONEY FROM HAMAS "CHARITY"
(Coral Springs, FL)

Yesterday, after it was confirmed that the terrorist organization Hamas won an overwhelming majority of votes in the Palestinian election, the President of the United States, George W. Bush, said that the U.S. government would not deal with the group. He stated, "A political party that articulates the destruction of Israel as part of its platform is a party with which we will not deal."
In light of President Bush's statement, Americans Against Hate (AAH) calls on all local, state and federal government agencies and representatives to distance themselves from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization with deep roots in Hamas.
http://www.americansagainsthate.com/

PUSH ADDRESS LINK

Hamas Landslide Death to Road Map?
http://www.israelnationalradio.com/

PUSH ADDRESS LINK

Bush Administration Crushed as PA Democracy Wrecks 'Peace Process'
http://www.israelnationalradio.com/

PUSH ADDRESS LINK

Hamas Wins Arab Elections!
http://www.israelnationalradio.com/

PUSH ADDRESS LINK

Hamas Victory Good for Israel?
http://www.israelnationalradio.com/

The Hamas electoral victory:] Democracy's bitter fruit
by Daniel Pipes

National PostJanuary 27, 2006Now that Hamas has apparently won the Palestinian elections, the West is hoist with its own petard.
On the one hand, Hamas is a terrorist group that unabashedly targets Israeli civilians and calls for the elimination of the Jewish state. On the other hand, it just won what observers deem to have been a reasonably fair election, and so enjoys the legitimacy that comes from the ballot box. Every foreign ministry now confronts a dilemma: Nudge it to moderation or give up on it as irredeemably extremist? Meet with Hamas members or avoid them? Continue to donate to the Palestinian Authority or starve it of funds?
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3321

Colombia Busts Hamas, al-Qaeda-Linked Passport Ring
Colombia arrested 19 members of a passport-forging ring with links to Islamic militant groups Hamas and al-Qaeda that enabled foreign nationals to travel in the U.S. and Europe under false documents, the attorney general's office in Bogota said on Thursday.Citizens of Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt "were turned into Colombian citizens without ever coming to Colombia," a statement said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26203560.htm

London Extremists to Hold Jihad Conference
Mohammed Al-Shafey (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)Islamists in Britain will resume their activities and hold a conference in London next month on jihad (holy war) in Palestine.According to Anjam Choudry, of the "Followers of the People of the Sunna and the Jamaa" and the former secretary general of al-Muhajiroun, an extremist organization which disbanded itself in October 2004, the conference will take place on Feb. 19.The two extremist Islamist groups were founded by the Syrian-born cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who left London after the 7 July bombings and now resides in Lebanon.A demonstration in front of the Israeli embassy will follow on Feb. 24.
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=3551

JIMMY CARTER speaks: Urges PA to use force against violent factions, etc
Jan. 23, 2006 Joseph Flesh - Jerusalem Post
http://www.standwithus.com/
(Note from StandWithUs:FYI - You may agree and disagree with portions in this article, but this is what Carter said at the sixth Herzliya Conference...)Former US president Jimmy Carter spoke on Monday at the sixth Herzliya Conference, an annual gathering of influential Israeli and international leaders. His speech focused on what he sees as the biggest obstacles to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Among the obstacles were the PA's lack of control over violent Palestinian elements; West Bank settlements; and the necessity for the Arab world to accept Israel's legitimacy.
http://www.standwithus.com/news_post.asp?NPI=621

PHOTO OF TERRORIST: Cute!

Anticipating Hamas Victory, Palestinian Cabinet Resigns
January 26, 2006
RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, and his government submitted their resignations Thursday as the radical Islamic faction Hamas appeared to have scored a major upset and defeated the ruling Fatah party in parliamentary elections.
However, no official results were expected until Thursday evening.
Fatah, which has dominated Palestinian politics for decades, was favored in Wednesday's election and exit polls released after the polls closed projected Fatah as the winner by a narrow margin.
But on Thursday morning, Hamas leaders claimed their own count showed that the group was winning an outright majority in the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council. Sixty-seven seats are needed for a majority, and Ismail Haniya, a senior Hamas leader, said the group expected to at least 70.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/international/middleeast/26cnd-hamas.html?hp&amp;ex=1138338000&en=f67f7af1f6172983&ei=5094&partner=homepage

As the Territory of Israel Decreases, Israel Is Perceived as Weaker Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon (Herzliya Conference)
Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon addressed the "Defensible Borders for Israel" session of the Herzliya Conference on Monday
http://www.herzliyaconference.org/Eng/_Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=1452&CategoryID=215

Bush Wants Abbas to Remain Palestinian Leader By JOHN O'NEIL and CHRISTINE HAUSER The president declined to state flatly whether he would deal with a government that Hamas participated in.
http://www.nytimes.com/

Iran Allocates Over $100 Million for Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad Jan 22, '06 / 22 Tevet 5766By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
The Lebanese-based terror organization Hizbullah is supported by Iran to the tune of US$100 million per year. $10 million also made its way last year from Iran to the Islamic Jihad.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=97051
Olmert´s Speech: We´ll Have to Part With Most of Yesha
By Hillel FendelActing PM Olmert told the Herzliya Conference: "We cannot rule over areas with a Palestinian population." MK Eldad: "By that logic, we'll have to soon leave the Galilee."
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking Tuesday night at the closing session of the prestigious Herzliya Conference, outlined his view of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The new chairman of the Kadima Party essentially said he sees no future for a Jewish Yesha (Judea and Samaria).With the national elections only two months away, the Likud and Labor Parties were quick to point out what they felt were the deficiencies in Olmert's speech. Labor's Yitzchak Herzog said Olmert had "merely downloaded Labor's platform from the internet, leaving out the social issues." A Likud spokesman said, "Olmert hid his true plans for a unilateral withdrawal from much of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem - a position he has expressed many times in the past years.""The dramatic move before us," Olmert said, "is to re-form our borders to ensure a Jewish majority... In order to guarantee the existence of the Jewish home, we will not be able to continue and rule over the areas in which a Palestinian population lives... Israel will maintain the security areas, the Jewish settlement blocs, and those places that have supreme significance for the Jewish nation... There can be no Jewish state without the capital Jerusalem in its center."MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said afterwards, "Olmert's speech is the beginning of the end of the State of Israel... If we cannot live in areas where what he calls 'Palestinian' population lives, then we will quickly have to part from the Galilee, the Triangle [Um el-Fahm], and the Negev, and the division of Jerusalem is just around the corner. Olmert will be able to say: 'In Herzliya, I destroyed the Jewish State.'"Taking sharp aim at the population of Judea and Samaria, Olmert said, "The Government of Israel will not be deterred by any threat of a law-breaking minority... I have instructed the security forces to raze all the unauthorized outposts in Judea and Samaria."Settling all of Judea and Samaria does not jibe with preserving Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, Olmert said. "We hope that they [the Arabs of the Palestinian Authority] will give up on some of their dreams, just as we have given up some of ours," said the Kadima prime ministerial candidate."In the name of the Government of Israel," Olmert said, "I say that we will fulfill all the Road Map commitments we took upon ourselves, and we demand that the leadership in Ramallah do the same."Other reactions to the speech:The Yesha Council said Olmert's remarks were "laced with an anti-Semitic tone towards the Jews of Yesha. In the Middle Ages, the Jews spread the Black Plague by poisoning the wells and murdering Christian children for their blood for matzas; in the 20th century, the Jews took over the world's economy; and now, the settlers are the reason for all of Israel's problems." Council spokesperson Emily Amrusi noted, "The same Olmert who emphasized in his speech that he was offering his hand in peace to murderers, has ordered his underlings over the past days not to conduct dialogue with the Yesha Council. It has never happened before that the government simply ignores the Yesha leadership and doesn't talk with them... He offers gestures and benefits to terrorists, but wages war on Jewish settlement, essentially naming us as the enemy."MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union): "With this shallow and hesitant speech, Olmert is trying to convince us that he is the new Sharon. But behind the fog of his press advisors, a clear plan is hiding: expulsion and destruction of Judea and Samaria, the division of Jerusalem, a return to the '67 borders, and the abandonment of Israel's security."Benny Kashriel, the Mayor of Maaleh Adumim, just to the east of Jerusalem, said, "Olmert's promise to preserve Jerusalem will be kept only if he reinforces the settlement belt around Jerusalem. He must allow contiguous construction from Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim in order to stop the Palestinian choke-hold around the capital, and he must approve the E-1 construction plan [between the two cities]."MK Sha'ul Yahalom (National Religious Party): "Olmert copied Sharon's speech from two years ago - and we have seen what that speech led us to: a rainfall of Kassam rockets, no security for the Jews living adjacent to Gaza, and no response from Israel."
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97275

See StandWithUs Signs

Got a rally? Get some flyers.

PA Elections: Fatah Will Back Hamas, Hamas Won’t Disarm
By Hana Levi JulianPolitical declarations about “the morning after” Wednesday’s Palestinian Authority (PA) legislative elections were ratcheted up a notch in statements from both Fatah and Hamas candidates.
By 3 PM, just over 40% of eligible voters had exercised their right to vote in the election for the Palestinian Authority's legislature in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Hamas is expected to do well. Senior Hamas official and candidate Mahmoud al-Zahar said, after casting his vote, that Hamas “will not change a single word in its covenant,” which calls for the destruction of Israel. The assertion was a seeming contradiction to his statement two days earlier that the terrorist organization would consider third-party negotiations with Israel. “Negotiation is not taboo,” he told reporters on Monday, two days before the elections. At the polls, Al-Zahar told reporters that Hamas “will go for arms and parliament and there is no contradiction between the two of them.” The candidate asserted that “Hamas will not turn into a political party,” and will continue its policy of “resistance.”Top Hamas candidate Ismail Haniya was also forthright, saying bluntly that the terrorist organization “will not disarm after entering Parliament.”Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, said the PA “partnership” with Israel would continue after the elections, even with members of Hamas participating in the legislature. “We are ready to negotiate,” he said after casting his ballot. “They [the Israelis] don’t have the right to choose their partner, but if they are seeking a Palestinian partner, this partner exists.”The PA Prime Minister, Ahmed Qureia, sent mixed messages after voting in Abu Dis, a Jerusalem suburb. He said that Fatah would support Hamas if it wins the election, regardless of its stance. “I hope the minority accepts the decisions of the majority,” he said. If Hamas becomes the majority, he added, “We will stand behind them. This is democracy and we accept the results of the elections.” Earlier in the day, both Hamas and Fatah were stopped from pressuring voters at the polls in eastern Jerusalem. Some 50 Fatah members refused to take down PA flags they carried, leading to a brief confrontation with police, who also confiscated Hamas elections propaganda in the same general area. Police arrested two Hamas activists who were distributing propaganda in the capital.
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97299

Rocket Barrage Directed at Sderot
http://www.standwithus.com/news_post.asp?NPI=624

Dr. Dore Gold: Hamas is World-Jihad Motivated
By Hillel Fendel
Dr. Dore Gold, Israel's former ambassador to the UN, says that if Israel does not get the message out about Hamas' connections and identification with world jihad, no one will.
Dr. Gold, the President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, appeared on Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine this afternoon. Host Amatzia HaEitan asked him whether the expected ascent of Hamas following the Palestinian Authority elections will hurt the PA in the international arena. Gold responded: "There will be a great struggle of media spins and public relations in the coming days. Hamas and its parent organization, the Islamic Brotherhood, are viewed differently in various Middle Eastern countries. In Jordan, the Brotherhood is legal, while in Eygpt, it's outlawed. The question is whether Hamas will be perceived as part of the world jihad - or as an organization that can become moderate... "Israel's position helps mold the world's reaction; the Americans and Europeans first read what is written on the Israeli sites, and then they make their decision. The world certainly won't be more stringent than Israel."The Hamas terror organization is committed to the destruction of Israel, and has murdered hundreds of Israelis over the past five years. "It is important to say," Dr. Gold emphasized, "that Hamas is an organization that identifies with the goals of world jihad. [Hamas leader] Mahmoud A-Zahar has said that Hamas victories are supposed to strengthen the mujahidin i [Islamic terrorists] in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Hamas sheikhs provide inspiration for Al-Qaeda... "Israel [can affect] world considerations, depending on what information it publicizes... For instance, one Israeli site, intelligence.org, shows important information on Hamas, such as the fact that Hamas sees itself as connected with Osama Bin-Laden and the rebels in Chechnya; the world must know this." Q. "How then must Israel relate to a situation in which Hamas becomes an integral part of the Palestinian Authority? We see that Israel continues to give in in this area."Gold: "Israel has already dealt with a similar question in the past, and there are strict standards [for contacts with terror organizations]. Even though we allowed the PLO and Arafat in the past to be part of the diplomatic process without giving up terrorism, the standards still exist. The charters calling for Israel's destruction must be changed, and they must give up and condemn the use of terrorism. I don't see Hamas fulfilling these conditions, but Israel must insist on it. Otherwise, there will be those who will try to explain to us that Hamas can become more moderate."Gold provided a specific example of the tendency to see potential moderation in Hamas: "In late September 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice appeared in Princeton University and tried to compare Hamas to the IRA in northern Ireland. She said that just like the IRA became more moderate after entering the political process, the same could happen with Hamas. "In my opinion, this comparison is not at all accurate, since the IRA wanted only to banish the British from Ireland, and did not want to destroy London - while Hamas has a clear agenda for an Islamic contiguity from Egypt to Iraq... Recent statements by Hamas leaders show that it has not given up its principle goal of destroying the State of Israel."Gold told CNN of Israeli concern that if Hamas gains power, it could "form the basis for a militant Islamic threat against Israel that we have never known before... It simply doesn't work when you have a committed ideological movement like Hamas, which in addition has religious motivation. They can't be tamed by garbage collection."
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97296

Israel tried to kill Bin Laden in 1996: Paper
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Mossad spy service and a foreign counterpart enlisted a confidante of Osama bin Laden to kill the Al Qaeda leader in 1996 but the plan fell apart over a political dispute, a newspaper said yesterday. Mossad picked up Bin Laden’s trail while helping US and Egyptian agents probe an attempt by activists on the life of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak as he visited Ethiopia, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said citing security sources.
http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=24927

Translation of Torah for India´s Bnei Menashe Nearly CompleteBy Baruch GordonFor the first time, members of a Lost Tribe of Israel in northeastern India will soon be able to study the entire Torah in their native tongue.
Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based group which assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people, last week published a translation of Sefer Shemot (the Book of Exodus) into Mizo, one of the main languages spoken by the Bnei Menashe living in Mizoram, India."Until now, the Bnei Menashe have had to rely on incomplete or flawed translations of the Torah," said Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund. "Now, at last, they will have a complete translation that was carried out directly from the original Hebrew by a team of Jewish scholars living in Israel. This is an important step towards reconnecting them with their heritage and with the basic texts of the Jewish people."
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97235

Exploring Iran's Military Options
Ali Nourizadeh (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)If several Western countries, headed by the U.S., are currently weighing the options at their disposal, the Islamic Republic of Iran is, in turn, preparing itself for a confrontation, either on the military or economic front.
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=3528

Hamas to Keep Weapons, Won't Change Charter"The Europeans and the Americans are telling Hamas to choose between arms and parliament. We say we will go for arms and parliament and there is no contradiction between the two of them," Ismail Haniya, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, said Wednesday. Gaza Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said the group "will not change a single word in its covenant" calling for the destruction of Israel, and would continue its path of "resistance," even as it serves in the Palestinian parliament.
http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-25T092754Z_01_L25267238_RTRUKOT_0_TEXT0.xml&related=true

Don't deal with terrorists
by Daniel PipesUSA TodayJanuary 25, 2006As Hamas, the Islamist terror group, surges in the polls with a prospect of joining the Palestinian Authority or even running it, governments worldwide must decide on their responses.
An increasing number of voices are calling for Hamas to be recognized, arguing that the imperatives of governance would tame it, ending its arch-murderous vocation (it has killed around 600 Israelis) and turning it into a responsible citizen. Even President Bush made this argument in early 2005: "There's a positive effect when you run for office. Maybe some will run for office and say, ‘Vote for me, I look forward to blowing up America.' ... I don't think so. I think people who generally run for office say, ‘Vote for me, I'm looking forward to fixing your potholes, or making sure you got bread on the table.'"
The historical record, however, refutes this "pothole theory of democracy." Mussolini made the trains run, Hitler built autobahns, Stalin cleared the snow and Castro reduced infant mortality — without any of these totalitarians giving up their ideological zeal nor their grandiose ambitions. Likewise, Islamists in Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan have governed without becoming tamed. If proof is needed, note the Iranian efforts to build nuclear weapons amid an apocalyptic fervor.
Hamas might have hired a spin doctor to improve its image in the West, but its leadership candidly maintains it has no intention of changing. Responding to a question on whether Bush is correct that U.S. engagement with Hamas would moderate the terror group, Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas founder, laughed and declared that this tactic "will not succeed." In recent days, Zahar has publicly reiterated that Hamas still intends to destroy Israel.
Fortunately, U.S. policy remains steadfast: "We haven't dealt with Hamas, and we won't deal with Hamas members who are elected," says U.S. embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle in Israel. That is a good start; ideally, there should be no dealings at all with a Palestinian Authority that includes Hamas in its leadership.
It was a mistake to permit Hamas to compete in elections. Like al-Qaeda, Hamas should be destroyed, not legitimated, much less courted.
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3309

Don't Go Wobbly on Iran
Jeff JacobyThe Bush administration - and, increasingly, leading Democrats - have been speaking out with growing urgency about preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear threat. What is not stressed enough is that Iran is not just a potential menace - it is a clear and present danger right now. The radical Islamists in Tehran bankroll the world's deadliest terrorists. They foment violence in Iraq. Fanatic, apocalyptic, totalitarian, the mullahs who rule Iran see their destiny as waging jihad and extending theocracy across the entire Middle East. Under no circumstances can such enemies be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons - or to doubt that we will do what we must to make sure that they don't.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/
2006/01/25/dont_go_wobbly_on_iran/

Iran's Threat, Bush's Dilemma
Max Boot In sum, a terrorist-sponsoring state led by an apocalyptic lunatic will soon have the ability to incinerate Tel Aviv or New York. Sooner rather than later, President Bush must face a hard choice: Either order air strikes (or acquiesce to Israeli strikes) or accept a nuclear-armed Iran.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-boot25jan25,0,3670344.column?coll=la-util-opinion-commentary

Disarming Questions
Rory McCarthyIn southern Lebanon, in the towns and villages near the border with Israel, it is rare to see the Lebanese national flag. Instead the yellow flag flutters of Hizballah, the fundamentalist, armed Shia movement. In the south, Hizballah is more than just an armed movement; it is a de facto government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,1693165,00.html

A Star Rises in Bethlehem - Hamas's
Michael I. Krauss and J. Peter PhamChristmas scenes from Bethlehem notwithstanding, Bethlehem is no longer a Christian city. Muslims now vastly outnumber the departing Christians, and minarets outnumber church spires. At the present rate, in 15 years the only Christians in Bethlehem will be the holiday tourists. And just last year, the terrorist group Hamas won elections in the city. If one wants to know what the situation would be like if Hamas took power, one need look no further than storied Bethlehem. In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal just before Christmas, Bethlehem city councilor and local Hamas leader Hassan El-Masalmeh advocated a special tax on non-Muslim residents of the future Palestinian state. The tax, known as al-jeziya, is required by the Koran for dhimmis, second-class Jews and Christians. "We in Hamas intend to implement this tax someday....We say it openly - we welcome everyone to Palestine but only if they agree to live under our rules.
30,000 pilgrims from all over the world; the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas (or Abu Mazen), at midnight Mass in the Church of the Nativity; processions of hundreds of Christian clergy — Bethlehem is no longer a Christian city. Muslims now vastly outnumber the departing Christians, and minarets outnumber church spires. At the present rate, in 15 years the only Christians in Bethlehem will be the holiday tourists. And just last year, the terrorist group Hamas won elections in the city.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/krauss_pham200601240831.asp
Settlers leave illegal Amona outpost
Pinchas Wallersten, head of Binyamin Regional Council, says his people sealed permanent houses in outpost, instructed inhabitants to leave, in bid to prevent clashes, reach compromise with State; in addition, settlers expected to file High Court petition against evacuation http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3206033,00.html

PHOTO: The illegal Amona outpost in the West Bank.
(Archive / Nitzan Shorer)

Settlers seal illegal outpost homes ahead of court hearing
Members of the Yesha Council of Settlements and the Binyamin Regional Council on Wednesday sealed up homes slated for demolition in the illegal outpost of Amona, ahead of the High Court petition
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/674691.html

Iran Races to Defend Nuclear Facilities
Thomas Harding and Anton La Guardia (Telegraph-UK)Iran is racing to dig a network of tunnels and upgrade its air defenses to protect its nuclear facilities from possible attacks by America or Israel, Jane's Defence Weekly reported.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/25/wiran25.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/25/ixworld.html

Iran: UN Sanctions May Lead Us to Close Persian Gulf
Yossi Melman (Ha'aretz)"We have the power to halt oil supply to the last drop from the shores of the Persian Gulf via the Straits of Hormuz," he said.25% of the world's oil production passes through the Straits of Hormuz, which connect the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean, including all production from the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/674159.html

Israel vs. Iran: Family Feud?
Economist-UKIran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says Israel is an alien implantation whose people should return to Europe or perhaps settle in Alaska.So it is an irony that Israel's president, Moshe Katzav, is in fact a Farsi-speaker born in Iran, as is Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz.Israel's chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, was born in Israel but both his parents were born in Iran.Asked how far Israel would go to stop Iran's nuclear program, Halutz replied: "two thousand kilometers."
http://www.economist.com/World/africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5420675

Hamas Ready to Unite Forces Under Single National Liberation Army
Palestine-info-UKHamas political bureau head Khaled Mishaal told Arabiya satellite TV in Damascus that Hamas is willing to unite the Palestinian weapon provided it will be under a national liberation army that would continue the liberation march of the Palestinians, rather than placing it under the control of the security apparatuses.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_16567.shtml
Hamas to Enact Islamic Laws if Elected
Palestine-info-UKHamas would enact "laws and legislation compatible with the Islamic Sharia [religious law] and would do our best to nullify the non-Islamic ones," Dr. Fuad Al-Nahal, a Hamas parliamentary candidate, told an election meeting in Rafah Monday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_16557.shtml

IDF Rescue Units Save Lives in Kenya"I do not believe I'm alive," said Martin Muhinda after being buried for the last 24 hours when a 5-story building under construction collapsed on Monday in Nairobi. The Israeli rescue team was instrumental in his rescue as they pulled him out using highly specialized equipment and sniffer dogs. (Reuters)Since arriving in Kenya on Tuesday, the Home Front Command's rescue team has pulled out four survivors and seven bodies. "Our goal is to save lives, regardless of religion, gender or origin. That is the beauty of our work," said Brig.-Gen. Avraham Ben-David.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/krcross/113813820081.htm

Israel to UN: "Iran May be Preparing Another Holocaust"
Ali Akbar DareiniIsrael's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, on Tuesday called Iran's plan for a conference to examine the evidence for the Holocaust as proof that Iran was run by an "extreme, fundamentalist, lunatic regime" and "proof of what a global threat Iran really is." "I fear that the only reason Iran is showing so much interest in the Holocaust is because they may be preparing another Holocaust and it is up to the world and the United Nations to prevent that from happening," Gillerman said on the sidelines of the opening of the "No Child's Play" exhibit at the UN commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Week.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1537641

Iran examines evidence of Holocaust
Iran yesterday defended its plan to organize a conference to examine what it terms the scientific evidence for the Holocaust, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/674342.html

PA Deputy Prime Minister: Fatah Unable to Dismantle Militias"We can't honor Abbas' commitment to dismantle the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militias," PA Deputy Prime Minister and Fatah campaign chief Nabil Shaath told Spain's El Pais newspaper Monday. Shaath said the new PA that would emerge from Wednesday's elections would need to "rebuild the security forces....That will take time." (Daily Star-Lebanon)http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=21671

PHOTO: Children in full Hamas get-up at a rally.Photo: AP

31 Palestinian Prisoners Running for PA Legislature
Yigal Grayeff31 security prisoners in Israeli jails are running in Wednesday's Palestinian Legislative Council elections, the Palestinian Central Elections Commission's website shows.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605909161&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Osama's Unmistakable Message
Walid PharesWhat the public ignores about the "cease-fire" offered by bin Laden is that the international community, and the U.S., will have to recognize al-Qaeda as the representative of the Muslim world, that all Muslim governments would elevate bin Laden as the world caliph. Also, he will be able to "resume" the jihad after the "cease-fire," since it is only a truce after all. The world, thus, would be divided in two spheres, with Osama as emperor from Morocco to China, with his full sovereign control of the resources - that is, oil - and the nuclear toys of Pakistan.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060124-104524-7068r.htm

Wahhabi World War Three: How the West Can Win
Excerpts from Remarks by Sheikh Palazzi on February 22, 2000 and September 12, 2005 about the "Saudi" Arabian petro-dollar profit financed Wahhabi International Mass Murder ("terror") Network
http://www.intelligencesummit.org/speakers/SheikhPalazzi.php

PHOTO: A Palestinian woman looks over sealed boxes containing documents
in preparation for election day By Uriel Sinai, Getty Images

Middle East democracy boosts Islamists
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
Islamic fundamentalists who oppose U.S. interests in the Middle East have benefited from the U.S. policy of promoting democracy, making significant gains in recent elections.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-01-25-hamas-democracy_x.htm

WELL, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS? WERE THERE WMAS?SADDAM'S PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL WEAPONS OFMASS DESTRUCTION TAPES TO BE UNVEILED AT THE INTELLIGENCE SUMMITA former military intelligence analyst, who currently works as a civilian contractor, believes he has found a cache of extremely confidential--and very shocking--audio recordings of Saddam Hussein's office meetings. The audiotapes, which had apparently been overlooked, were found in a warehouse along with many other untranslated Iraqi intelligence files. These tapes are extremely significant, since they may be the best evidence yet of Saddam's secret intentions concerning weapons of mass destruction. Before 9/11, many intelligence experts were convinced that a very strong and important Iraqi WMD connection existed, only to change their minds when no concrete evidence of that connection could be uncovered in the three years following the beginning of Iraqi war.
As a former intelligence officer & Justice Department prosecutor, John Loftus once held some of the highest security clearances in the world, with special access to NATO Cosmic, CIA codeword, and Top Secret Nuclear files. As a private attorney, he works without charge to help hundreds of intelligence agents obtain lawful permission to declassify and publish the hidden secrets of our times. He is the author of four history books, three of which have been made into films, two were international best sellers, and one was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. The Loftus Report is heard by four million listeners every weeknight from 10:30 to 11 PM on ABC National Radio's John Batchelor Show. Mr. Loftus is also President of the Intelligence Summitsm, an international non-profit non-partisan educational forum for the intelligence agencies of the free world and Vice Chairman of the Florida Holocaust Museum http://www.intelligencesummit.org/news/JohnLoftus/JL010606.php

Iraqi General: Iraq's WMD Secreted in Syria Ira Stoll (New York Sun)Iraqi general Georges Sada, who served as the no. 2 official in Saddam Hussein's air force, says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed, in a new book, Saddam's Secrets, released this week.Sada, 65, told the Sun that he met the pilots of the two airliners that transported the weapons to Syria in the middle of 2004, after Saddam was captured."I know them very well. They are very good friends of mine. We trust each other. We are friends as pilots," Sada said. They are now employed by other airlines outside Iraq.The pilots told Sada that Special Republican Guard brigades loaded materials onto the planes including "yellow barrels with skull and crossbones on each barrel." The planes made 56 flights."Saddam realized, this time, the Americans are coming," Sada said. "They handed over the weapons of mass destruction to the Syrians."Sada said that the Iraqi official responsible for transferring the weapons was a cousin of Saddam Hussein, Ali Hussein al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali."The Syrian official responsible for receiving them was a cousin of Bashar Assad, known variously as General Abu Ali, Abu Himma, or Zulhimawe.The book also says that on the eve of the first Gulf War, Saddam was planning to use his air force to launch a chemical weapons attack on Israel.
http://www.nysun.com/article/26514

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THIS?
Glenn Beck: "I Was Wrong On Gaza Withdrawal"

Commentary, John
Johnstembridge1
As I was driving to work today I was listening to the Glenn Beck Radio Talk Show which has the third largest listening audience in America. After learning of Hamas' victory yesterday, he was expressing outrage at himself for supporting the withdrawal of the Israeli settlers from Gaza and Shomron last summer. Now he knows that Hamas is fully and visibly in control. He said that he thought that we had a peace partner among the Palestinians when he advocated the expulsion of the settlers. But now realizes that he was had. Now he realizes too late that we now have the Hamas terrorist organization as a partner. But not for PEACE. Only as a partner for a piece by piece by piece of Israel until there is no Israel.

Shuvah, repentance is always good for the soul. But what about those running in the current elections in Israel? Will they so Shuvah and wake up as Glenn Beck or will whoever is elected in March continue to divide our land piece by piece for a Palestinian state? In my opinion, a Palestinian state on any part of the land God gave to Israel is a road map to hell, or at best, the road map for the predicted Gog and Magog War.

But then who am I? Just a committed Zionist in the Diaspora awaiting Ha Shem's release for my own Aliyah so that I can claim my own inheritance in the land Ha Shem gave to us eternally. Unlike Esau, and perhaps some today, I do value my inheritance and look forward to the day when I am released to claim it.

CHRISTIAN ALLIES CAUCUS TO CELEBRATE SECOND ANNIVERSARY
By Josh Reinstein, KCAC. January 25, 2006
The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC) will meet on January 30, 2006 at 12:00 in the Knesset Lecture Hall to celebrate its achievements in 2005 and its two-year anniversary. During the meeting, the KCAC will review its current projects, discuss future events, and plot a course for its future direction.
The Foreign Ministry will also make a brief presentation concerning a project it is initiating to foster greater cooperation between Jews and Christians. Those attending the meeting include fourteen members of Knesset from seven different political parties, as well as Christian leaders representing a broad spectrum of churches.
Some of the initiatives promoted by the KCAC in 2005 were programs to increase Christian tourism to Israel, to reach out to the African American community, and to strengthen ties with all Christian denominations.
In 2005, the KCAC organized conferences in the United States, Korea and Canada. Also launched this year was the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Women’s Council set to advance the status of women in a way congruent with Judeo-Christian values.
The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus was established in January of 2004 to open formal and direct lines of communication between the representatives of the Jewish people and Christians around the world. The Caucus consists of fourteen members of Knesset from seven political parties across the political spectrum.

PRESIDENT HOSTS CHRISTIAN LEADERS IN MEGIDDO
By Will King. Bridges for Peace, January 25,2006
Israeli President Moshe Katzav hosted a press conference this week at the Megiddo Prison for several local Christian leaders. Katzav and several archeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority displayed a mosaic floor from the 3rd century AD found on the prison grounds.
The mosaic is composed mostly of geometric patterns, but also has a depiction of two fish and an inscription dedicated to “the God Jesus Christ”. Archeologists believe that this is the oldest known Christian congregation found to date, and helps to explain the beginnings of Christianity in the area.

January 25, 2006Founder of the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, Jan Willem van der Hoeven
announces with his team and staff members to move his ICZC headquarters in solidarity with the Jewish people to the main heartland of the people of Israel to the land of Benjamin, Judea in the vicinity of Bethel where the God in Whom also Christians believe promised this land - the heartland of Israel - to one people namely His own as an everlasting possession, as He also promised to Abraham! Millions of Bible believing Christians worldwide from every nation and church denomination believe in this divine promise of our God and Father to His own Jewish people. We hope by this act of identification to give strength and courage to many in Israel.
Jan Willem van der Hoeven, DirectorInternational Christian Zionist Center

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem wishes to clarify the following:
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was founded in 1980 by a close-knit group of godly men and women, including Rev. Jan Willem van der Hoeven.
The ICEJ today is not affiliated with his current ministry, the International Christian Zionist Center, nor are we involved in the move of the ICZC offices to the land of Benjamin.

ARTICLES ABOUT THE BIBLE, ETC.

"The Whole Gospel for the Whole Man"
Dwight Pryor, Center for Judaic-Christian Studies

Dwight sheds important light on the meaning and scope of salvation from a Hebraic perspective
Listen To Teaching:..
http://www.jcstudies.com/

Sample Dwight's New Book: JCStudies best selling "Behold the Man!" Discovering Our Hebrew Lord, The Historical Jesus of Nazareth visual curriculum just got better. You can order the companion study textbook written by Dwight & Keren Pryor.

The Rapture, the Old Testament, and Matthew 24:31
David Bivin, Jerusalem Perspective

Jwfox9, thank you for your observation --and proofs -- that lakaH is the Hebrew equivalent of "rapture." (SEE http://forum.jerusalemperspective.com/viewtopic.php?t=315)

My late teacher, Robert L. Lindsey, would often point out that the word "taken" in Luke 17:34-35 means "raptured," assuming that Jesus used the word lakaH: "I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left" (RSV). And in this connection Lindsey would always refer to Genesis 5:24: "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took [lakaH] him" (JPS).
http://forum.jerusalemperspective.com/viewtopic.php?t=315&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=&sid=7fd2ea0ccba130c0cf6bca89914582ab

The Place of Women in First-century Synagogues

Shmuel Safrai, Jerusalem Perspective

Today, public worship can take place in a synagogue only if at least ten adult Jewish males are present. Women do not qualify as part of this quorum. Furthermore, women are separated from men within the synagogue: women worship in an ezrat nashim, a balcony, or section with a divider, located beside or behind the men's section. Things were considerably different in Jesus' day.[more]
http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/Default.aspx?tabid=27&ArticleID=1464

Join Israel's Messiah - Blessed Is He
http://groups.aol.com/israelsmessiah?mmch_=0

Understanding The Difficult Words of Jesus
by Roy Blizzard, Ph.D., and David Bivin
Reviewed by Ron Moseley:
Although this book was first published in 1983, it leaps ahead of most research on the biblical text because it deals with the Hebraic background. Both Blizzard and Bivin discuss the problems of modern scholarship in understanding a Jewish book from a Greek viewpoint. This book does an excellent job of rendering statistics on the percentage of Hebraic thought found in the New Testament language. The linguistic research methods used by Blizzard and Bivin separate the Hebrew from first century Aramaic in a simple, but lucid manner that can be understood by all. I highly recommend this book for the basics of Hebrew thought prior to launching into any serious Bible study.

Jesus The Jewish Theologian
by Brad Young, Ph.D.
Reviewed by Ron Moseley:
Jesus The Jewish Theologian places Yeshua in the first century context needed to understand the New Testament writings. As usual, Dr. Young addresses the parables of Yeshua with adept understanding of Semitic theology, leaving the reader with a novel but sensible glance of Yeshua's Jewish teaching methods. Without realizing Yeshua's Jewish theology readers are easily pulled to the Greek mindset missing the beauty of the birth, baptism, temptation, and kingdom message seen in its Jewish form. Some of my favorite sections of this book deal with the seemingly inflexible topics such as divorce, adultery, and Jewish grace, which have simple answers when viewed properly. I recommend Jesus The Jewish Theologian to every serious student and pastor.

Our Father Abraham
by Marvin Wilson, Ph.D.
Reviewed by Ron Moseley:
Our Father Abraham has become one of everybody's favorites laying the foundational studies of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. I personally like the questions at the end of each chapter and the easy reading form of the historical chapters. Dr. Wilson has answered an abundance of difficult questions in this landmark book of Hebraic foundations. This volume has and will continue to be used as textbook for history on the subject of early Jewish-Christian thought. Topics such as minim, Notzrim, Herem, and the Nidduy are explained in an manner that both reflects scholarship as well as relevance. This is a great book and I can almost guarantee that your copy will be as highlighted as mine in all your favorite sections. I highly recommend Our Father Abraham as a teaching tool for classes, Bible study, or just good reading.

by Ron Moseley, Ph.D.
Review by Gina Worsham:
This is a one stop shopping source for students seeking easily accessed information related to the Jewishness of Jesus and the Hebraic roots of nascent Christianity. Although there is a plethora of information on this subject, Dr. Moseley has made the difficult easy on complicated subjects such as the Pharisees and synagogue functions carried over into the second century church. In the words of Dr. Marvin Wilson, "Yeshua: A Guide To The Real Jesus And The Original Church is must reading for all serious students desiring to explore the historical and biblical linkage between the synagogue and church." I highly recommend this book. It is not a conclusive source on everything Jewish about the church, but it covers the subjects well. One of my favorite things about this book is the use and explanation of Jewish idioms answering such questions as why did Jesus spit on the ground and put it in the man's eye? Why the man was forbidden to bury his father before following Jesus? Why the woman was healed who touched the hem of Yeshua's garment? What binding and loosing meant in the first century, and why did Peter cut off the servant's ear?

Ezekiel 33 Graphics
http://www.ezekiel33graphics.homestead.com/

From my friend Michael Pomeranz in Jerusalem. For those who are not familiar with Neot Kadumim, it's a wonderful place to visit. All the plants mentioned in the Bible are grown there, plus lots of history. For those of you going with me on the trips in April 23rd and May 7th, we won't be visiting Neot Kadumim this time, but Michael's bookstore is a real treat and not far from our hotel. Posy

Be’eri 5, Jerusalem Israel 623-5559

Seder Tu B’Shvat
Neot Kedumim’s interactive Hagaddah will help you celebrate and experience the abundance of nature that is our gift from G-d

Easy to handle fold-out format
1 copy $14.00
Each additional copy $10.00
Price includes Air Mail delivery from Israel
Please see below for ordering instructions
To order: Click reply, tell us how many you want, include your mailing address and phone number. We will call you to obtain your credit card details.
M. POMERANZ BOOKSELLER
Be’eri 5 – Center of Town
Ph: 6235-559 or 1-800-JUDAICA or 1-800 736-746

YOU MAY ALSO ORDER YOUR BOOKS VIA EMAIL
Pomeranz@netmedia.net.il

ISRAEL TRAVEL
OPPORTUNITIES

PHOTO: Person being baptized in the Jordan River in Yardenit, Israel

Tourism in Israel Increased 28% in 2005
Jerusalem PostThe Ministry of Tourism reported that almost two million tourists came to Israel in 2005, a 28% increase over 2004.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1136361106645&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

BFP Opportunities
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/h2n2.php?fn=opportunities/optravel/index.html

Volunteers For Israel

PHOTO: Rose DeRenzo
I had a marvelous time with Sar-El and am planning, God willing, to go back in June. This is not a Christian organization, but Jewish, and there is no proselytizing--but this is how I believe and I don't go to Israel with this in mind, but to help God's people.

Rose DeRenzo

VFI's purpose is…
…To provide Diaspora Jewry and other friends of Israel with an opportunity to participate directly in helping Israel:
…To create an opportunity for participants to assist in the strengthening of Israel through the means of hands-on work.
…To enhance the bonds and sense of solidarity among the volunteers and Israelis.
…To intensify the Jewish identity of the Jewish youth living in the Diaspora.
…To develop mutual understanding and to enrich personal and cultural values through the dynamics of Israeli and volunteer participants working together.
http://www.vfi-usa.org/

2006 DISCOVERY TOUR TO ISRAEL
September 9 - 21

Maybe you’ve been to Israel several times and would like to return but see some less visited sites. Or perhaps you want to make your first visit because you have an interest in Israel history, modern and ancient. Then the Discovery tour is for you. As you look over the itinerary below you’ll see the unique places we will be going. Please come along!

For information contact Carol Pederson, 1006 Hill Court, Shoreview, MN 55125. 651-490-9012 or e-mail shalomcp@usfamily.net Travel arrangements will be made by FRIENDLY PLANET TRAVEL, P. O. Box 505, Jenkintown, PA 19046. 1-800-555-5765.

Go to Israel with Rance & Brandy Cook
http://www.friendlyplanet.com/sponsored/idt-israel-jordan-02-06.html

Travel with
Larry and Mary Ehrlich
ehrlichshalom@cox.net

Tour Israel with
Ron & Carol Cantrell
http://www.shalom-shalom-jerusalem.org/tourisrael.html

THE WESTERN WALL
LIVE WEBCAM
http://english.thekotel.org/cameras.asp

Great articles on the News, Bible Teaching,

Torah Portions, Books and Materials, Israel Tours, etc.
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/
http://www.bfpusa.org/

SUBSCRIBE NOW
To receive a six month free subscription to Bridges for Peace publications please fill in the coupon below. Subscriptions are offered on a donation basis.
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/h2n2.php?fn=subscribe.html

Israel Government Gateway
Information and services

English
http://147.237.72.16/eng/mainpage.asp

Hebrew
http://www.info.gov.il/FirstGov/

Knesset English Homepage

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest." Isaiah 62.1

WHO IS OLLIE?
He is a Christian pastor and is
just one of thousands of pastors
who love Israel and the Jewish people!

Write Us!
InandAboutIsrael@aol.com

Let us know if you have any suggestions on how we might make "In and About Israel" more readable and useable. If you change your address or server and would like to continue to receive our email, please let us know at InandAboutIsrael@aol.com.

NOTE: We will neither open nor send attachments onless your server is formatted that way and we have no control over it. Please place any return message in the main body of your email. We do not want to contract computer viruses. SOME TRY! We are always virus free because we have returned to Norton’s Corporate Edition anti-virus program and use it.If you would like to be taken off this list please send a return email. Thank you for your patience. We will do it ASAP.
Want to tell us why you wish to discontinue? Sent out too often? Too long? Disagree with us? We ourselves often do not agree completely with some of the articles, etc. that we send out! Our purpose is to let you know what others are saying as well as what we think. Or, some articles contain some material that is important for all of us to hear and understand whether or not we agree with it.

SPAM? If you do not receive this e-newsletter on a regular basis, please check your spam folder just in case the email gets delivered there instead of your inbox. This is Not Spam. Only people who want us to send this to them receive it. Occasionally someone else may forward it to you, however. We have no control over that, of course.

WE STAND FIRMLY WITH ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE!
If you value this e-newsletter,please forward it on to as many of your friends, family, pastors and rabbis as possible. Give them a good word about us.Copy this in paper form and give it away to people without computers!

Thanks.

CLICK ON UP-TO-DATE NEWS AND NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL
Please be aware that we do not
always agree with every report given in these sources. We are simply trying to give you a broad range of news from and about Israel.

Arutz-7
Google News Israel
Ha'Aretz
Israel National Radio
Honest Reporting
Israel National News TV
Israel Unity Coalition
Jerusalem Post
Kol Israel English News
Kol-Israel News Headlines
Maariv International
The Medialine
Weekly News Review-- LISTEN HERE
Monday through Friday -- LISTEN HERE
Palestine Media Watch
Sha'ar Lamathil
Something Jewish
Today’s Daily News Alert from Israel
Unity Coalition for Israel News
Virtual Jerusalem News

Arutz 7 daily report
Email Service

TELEVISION

TV FROM ISRAEL
Arutz TV Live
Free Live TV from Israel
Voice of Judea TV

TV FROM “PALESTINE”
Palestine TV 28 220
PSC TV 225
Palestine Satellite TV Channel

ARAB ENGLISH NEWS

The Arab slant...

Al Jazeera
Arab American TV News Arab World
World Link TV

UNITED NATIONS TV

CHRISTIAN, READ ABOUT YOUR HEBREW ROOTS
American Institute of Holy Land Studies
Bridges for Peace
Center for Judeo-Christian Studies
Center for the Study of Biblical Research
Church & Israel Forum
D'var Chaim - Living Word
En-Gedi Resource Center
Gospel Research Foundation HaKesher
Haydid Learning Center
Jerusalem Cornerstone
JerusalemPerspective Restoration Foundation
Shalom, Shalom Jerusalem Ministries

PHOTOS AND PICTURES OF ISRAEL
Bible Places
Holy Land Photos
Holy Land Images
Jerusalem Image Gallery
Webshots

Israel Websites that
Lean to the Left
Israeli Peace Organizations
http://www.peacenow.org/
The Parents' Circle - The Families Forum
Ta'ayush
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
The People's voice – HaMifkad HaLeumi (Ami Ayalon and Sari Nusseibeh)
The Geneva Initiative
Geneva Initiative joint website
Bat Shalom
Women For Human Rights (Machsom Watch)
Givat Haviva
Coalition of Women for Peace
The Peres Center for Peace
The Arik Institute for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace
Occupation Magazin
Radio All for Peace

Human Rights Organizations (Israel)
B'tselem
ACRI
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
Kav La'oved
Israel Women's Network

OTHER LINKS
Christian Friends of Israel
Christian Friends of Israeli Communities
Easy Hebrew™ Correspondence Course
Hear Conversational Hebrew Phrases
Hebrew For Christians
International Christian Embassy
Learn Hebrew
Shevet Achim
The Bible Quiz
From Israel

CLICK ON MUSIC WHILE YOU READ
Please, If you do not want to listen to what is being presented on one of these sites, switch to another station. Our only intention is to bring you Israeli, Jewish-style and Christian music
Arutz-7 Jutebox
B'nai B'rith Radio
Five Towns Radio
Powered By Hadavar
HaReshet haShniya
Heart of Israel Radio
Inspired Faith Radio
Israel Hour
Jewish World Radio
Kol Ha'Yeshuah Radio
WSTW.fm

“I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day or night: you that make mention of Yahweh, keep not silent and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” Isaiah 62:6-7

Please! Please! Please!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem
SHA'ALU SHALOM YERUSHALAYIM

'PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM'

MAY THEY PROSPER WHO LOVE YOU!PSALMS 122:6

L'hit-ra-OT be-ka-ROV!
(Be seeing you soon!)

2006-01-24T12:43:00.000-08:00

January 26, 2005

HAMAS VICTORY

SPECIAL REPORT

World Taken by Surprise by Hamas Victory

Jan 26, '06 / 26 Tevet 5766

By Hillel Fendel

As foreign governments attempt to formulate their reactions to the Hamas victory, informal talks are underway for a joint Hamas-Fatah government. Fatah is not enthusiastic.

Amidst reports that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is considering resigning - Prime Minister Abu Ala already resigned this morning - initial contacts are being made for a future PA government.

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97370

History of Hamas Murderous Attacks

Jan 26, '06 / 26 Tevet 5766

By Hillel Fendel
Hamas has set the destruction of Israel as its goal. Between September 2000 and April 2004, Hamas perpetrated 425 terrorist attacks against Israel and murdered 377 Israelis - nine every month.
Hamas was founded by Islamic militant extremists in the Gaza Strip in 1988, shortly after the first intifada broke out. The word Hamas is an acronym for the Arabic words for "Islamic Resistance Movement." Though it is also involved in social and welfare programs, the organization is devoted chiefly to the obliteration of Israel. Its charter states, "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97378

PHOTO: In this image released by the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, right, visits a polling station in the West Bank town of Ramallah Wednesday Jan. 25, 2006. Amid tight security, Palestinians cast ballots in their first parliament election in a decade Wednesday. Both the ruling Fatah Party and its challenger, the Islamic militant Hamas, said they were confident of victory, while pollsters said the race was too close to call. (AP Photo/Omar Rashidi/Palestinian Authority) (Omar Rashidi - AP)

Hamas Wins Palestinian Vote

The Islamic militant group Hamas said Thursday it won control of the Palestinian parliament and officials from the ruling Fatah Party confirmed the estimate. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as well as Fatah officials said Hamas had won about 70 seats, a majority in the 132-seat parliament.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012500823.html

Iran's Ahmadinejad Meets Hamas Leaders in Damascus

Al Jazeera-Dubai

Speaking to Hamas leaders in Damascus on Friday, Iranian President Ahmadinejad said that the Middle East conflict has become "the locus of the final war" between Muslims and the West, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. During his visit to Syria, Ahmadinejad told Hamas leaders, who included Khalid Mashal, the head of the group's political bureau, "Today, victory in Palestine has become a matter of life and death for the Islamic world." The Iranian president called on all Islamic states to make use of their economic potential to "cut the hand of the enemies."
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10517

Hamas Won't Change Its Stripes

Barry Rubin (Ottawa Citizen)
Members of the EU are preparing to do business with Hamas despite the fact that it is on their list of banned terrorist groups.
Their rationale is "that heavy-handed actions by the EU could prove counterproductive, pushing Hamas further from the political mainstream."
In other words, if the EU is tough on Hamas it might become radical! Why it might even demand Israel's destruction, dispatch suicide bombers, and be anti-Semitic! (Yes, that is what they are already doing.)
Is it really so hard to understand that a group that calls for genocide against Jews, extols terrorism, and demands a Taliban-style regime for Palestinians is not about to become moderate?
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=23fd0063-dfd3-4570-a0b8-2bbabf291705

January 24, 2005

We are Bible-believing Christians who support Israel and the Jewish people. Our mission is to send you news reports and links that will give you information from many different kinds of sources and points-of-view, including some you may not agree with. Pick and choose. Don’t even try to read everything!

Always online at…
www.InandAboutIsrael.blogspot.com
with past issues in archive

Current local time in Jerusalem

Weather around Israel

LINKS AT THE BOTTOM
As you read, please remember...
Israel is important to God...
don't lose heart...
He is in charge of history...
He has a plan and everything is under control!

B'surot Tovot!

GOOD NEWS FROM ISRAEL!
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/section.php?id=8

MORE GOOD NEWS FROM ISRAEL
http://www.newsoftheday.com/israel/

AND EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS!
http://www.israel21c.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=HomePage

What’s Really Hot!

Please note that we do not include complete articles.

You may go to the links for everything published on these sites.

Wikipedia Project
For Israel Lovers
You may possibly contribute to the accuracy of this new online encyclopedia. Please go to http://www.wikipedia.com/ and select topics like “Gaza”, “Israeli West Bank barrier”, “Palestine”, etc. to help check for accuracy and add to the knowledge of our whole computer-based world. Please read the following article first.
Online Wikipedia is not Britannica - but it's close
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0105/p13s02-stct.html

I am positive that people around the world will be using Wikipedia as much or more as they will be using Britanica. You will be making an important contribution to the well-being of Israel.
Ollie

For the Very Latest News

TVnews.JPost.Com
http://info.jpost.com/C005/Channel2/

IsraelNationalNews.TV
http://www.israelnationalradio.com/

The Hamas Campaign Platform
Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Palestinian Media Watch)

On Jan. 17, PA Television broadcast the following Hamas election ad:"We do not recognize the Israeli enemy, nor his right to be our neighbor, nor to stay, nor his ownership of any inch of land.""Therefore, we do not see [Israel] as an ally, not in policy, not in security, not in economy, and not in any form of cooperation.""Israel is an enemy who is interested in uprooting us, and we are interested in restoring our full rights to return all the people of Palestine to the land of Palestine.""Our principles are clear: Palestine is a land of Waqf [Islamic trust], which cannot be given up."
http://www.pmw.org.il/Latest%20bulletins%20new.htm#b220106

Study: Fears of an Oil Weapon are Baseless
PhysOrg.com

In a peer-reviewed journal article, Johns Hopkins University researcher Roger J. Stern argues that the decades-old belief that petroleum-rich Persian Gulf nations must be appeased to keep oil flowing is imaginary, and the threat of deployment of an "oil weapon" is toothless.
http://www.physorg.com/news10020.html

IDF Arrests Islamic Jihad Terrorist
Israel Defense Forces

The IDF arrested Hassin Behagat Anis Jerdat, 33, on Sunday in Silat Al-Haratia, northwest of Jenin.Jerdat is one of the heads of Islamic Jihad in northern Samaria, the group that committed five suicide bombings in Israel during 2005.
http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&docid=49340.EN

Palestinian Killed Protecting Campaign Posters
Atef Sa'ad (Reuters)

Gunmen shot a Palestinian man in the head on Monday in Nablus when he tried to prevent them from removing campaign posters of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24370454.htm

Bush: Israel Is Our Ally; We Won't Be Blackmailed by Iranian Bomb

President Bush said Monday, "I'm concerned when the country of Iran, their president, announces his desire to see that Israel gets destroyed. Israel is our ally. We're committed to the safety of Israel, and it's a commitment we will keep. Secondly, I'm concerned about a non-transparent society's desire to develop a nuclear weapon. The world cannot be put in a position where we can be blackmailed by a nuclear weapon."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060123-4.html

"Defensible Borders Are Key to Israel's Safety"
Rafael D. Frankel

To defend itself against future threats, Israel must retain control of the Jordan Valley and all West Bank border crossings in any future arrangement - whether negotiated or initiated unilaterally - that defines the state's borders
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605901492&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The U.S. and Hamas
Dennis Ross

The U.S. should lead an international effort to affect Palestinian behavior by emphasizing: First, that the international community will not deal with Hamas unless it renounces violence, gives up its weapons, and commits to co-existence. Second, that international assistance will be immediately forthcoming for job-creating projects but will cease if Palestinians do not immediately establish law and order in Gaza and the West Bank. Third, that continuing assistance to the PA will depend on its assumption of its real governing responsibilities, including a sustained effort to prevent acts of terror against Israel.Hamas and the PA cannot have it both ways; it cannot be acceptable for Hamas to go along with law and order internally while it still tolerates and supports terrorism against Israel.
http://usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-01-23-sharon-exit_x.htm

Don't Make Exceptions for Hamas
David Makovsky

Hamas will not be forced to make pragmatic decisions unless the international community is united. Importantly, the U.S., EU, Russia, and the UN - the group of countries monitoring the Palestinians' political development - declared in their last statement that "a future Palestinian Authority cabinet should include no member who has not committed to the principles of Israel's right to exist in peace and security and an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism." Hamas needs to be forced to choose. Peace in the Middle East requires tough choices, not quick fixes.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opmak244599308jan24,0,6276444.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines

Palestinian Democracy
Editorial Wall Street Journal, 24Jan06

Free elections may well produce governments composed of Muslim radicals who promote terror and have little respect for pluralism. Our sense is that if democracy is truly going to take root in the Middle East, then Islamists are going to have to be allowed to compete for power. The danger of an outright Hamas victory is that it could bring one man, one vote, one time. The entire 1993 Oslo peace accord was built, and later collapsed, on the idea that political responsibility would make Arafat and his Fatah party followers more moderate.Future Israeli leaders can't be expected to discuss the terms of their country's destruction with Hamas, nor will the U.S. and Europe endorse the aims of Hamas simply because it was able to win the votes of a desperate population.

Former IDF Chief Yaalon: Gaza Now Hamastan, Al-Qaedastan

Ronny Sofer (Ynet News)
Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon told the Herzliya Conference on Israel's National Security on Monday that Gaza has turned into "Hamastan, Hizballahstan, and al-Qaedastan" following Israel's withdrawal from the area last summer.
"The Arabs' refusal to recognize Israel is the source of all the violence directed against it from the dawn of Zionism to this day," he added. "As long as this does not change, Israel will be prone to violence."
"The 1967 borders do not provide an answer to the threat of rocket and suicide bombing attacks, nor do they provide an answer to the threat of conventional attacks."
Yaalon said the Palestinian Authority has breached every agreement with Israel. "The Palestinians do not recognize our right to live within the 1967 borders. Their decision to wage war in September 2000 was aimed at dodging the need to recognize Israel as a sovereign state."
"All of these are warning signs ahead of determining the country’s permanent borders - either by way of agreement or unilaterally. As long as there is no acceptance of our right to exist, the Israeli leadership should assume any determined border will be challenged by violent acts, unless there is deterrence. The more vulnerable we appear, the bigger the temptation is to attack us."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3205056,00.html

Iran says Palestine is center of Islam, fight against arrogance
Tehran, Jan 21, IRNA
Syria-Iran-President President Ahmadinejad said Friday Palestine is the center of the final stages of the battle between Islam and arrogance, saying the Palestinian Intifada is progressing.
The plots hatched by enemies against Palestine should not be overlooked even for a moment, Ahmadinejad noted in a meeting with leaders of the Palestinian resistance movements in Damascus, Syria.
Ahmadinejad arrived in Damascus on Thursday upon the official invitation of his Syrian counterpart -- President Bashar al-Assad.
He spoke of the importance of the Palestinian cause and stressed the cause will not come be materialized if occupiers continue to occupy even a tiny part of Palestine's territories.
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0601217945151146.htm

PHOTO: Palestinian election candidate was thrown in the air by supporters during a Fatah party rally in the West Bank village of Dahiyat al-Barid yesterday. (Menahem Kahana/ AFP/ Getty Images)

Hamas hardens campaign rhetoric
Leaders praise jihad and renew calls to fight Israel
By Anne Barnard, Globe Staff January 24, 2006
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas leaders yesterday concluded their maiden political campaign with a defiant embrace of the militant group's core tenets, vowing to continue their armed struggle until Palestinians rule what is now Israel, denouncing all economic ties with the Jewish state, and declaring peace negotiations ''a failed process."
Zahar rejected calls for pragmatism by telling the crowd that Ariel Sharon, the gravely ill Israeli prime minister, had said Israel would never leave the Jewish settlements in Gaza, but then pulled out last summer. And, on a more personal note, Zahar said, ''Two years ago, Sharon tried to kill me. Now I am standing here and he is fighting death."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/01/24/
hamas_hardens_campaign
_rhetoric/

LATE POLLS PREDICT FATAH WIN OVER HAMAS
The Media Line Daily News Focus 23 Jan
With only forty-eight hours remaining before election day in the Palestinian Authority, new polling predicts a victory by the mainstream Fatah party over Hamas by a margin of 42% to 35%. The poll, carried out by Dr. Khalil Shikaki, shows an undecided rate of only 7%. The gap between the two leaders and the remainder of the pack is overwhelming – the third place party now showing only 5%. Other polling organizations support the basic finding that Fatah is maintaining its lead over Hamas. But even if Fatah wins the election, Hamas is clearly destined to receive a sizeable number of seats in the next legislature, insuring a new set of political dynamics in the Palestinian Authority. American support for the Palestinians is now an issue in light of U.S. law prohibiting assistance to an entity that includes a terrorist organization. Hamas is listed by the American government as such a group. There are media reports circulating that claim U.S. officials have ruled out recognition of any government that includes Hamas.

A MEDIA LINE VIDEO REPORT: OPENING THE DOOR TO HAMAS

NETANYAHU CALLS FOR SECURITY BARRIER TO RETURN TO ORIGINAL ROUTE
The Media Line Daily News Focus 23 Jan
Seeking to return to the office he once held, Israel’s Likud party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu has called for the controversial security barrier to return to its original routing. The path of the buffer in a number of locations was struck down by the courts for being repressive to the Arab population living near its track. Netanyahu said he was prepared to make territorial compromises, but not compromise on security. He said the original route of the barrier was prepared by Israel’s defense establishment. But his policy would set Israel on a collision course with the United States and much of the international community that sees the fence as illegal and is demanding that Israel remove it altogether.

Israel Removes Anti-Terror Roadblocks for PA Election

Jan 23, '06 / 23 Tevet 5766

By Hillel Fendel

New Israeli FM: 'Yes, yes, yes to Palestine'
By Ryan Jones
January 23rd, 2006
Israel’s zealous new foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, continued Monday to push ahead her Kadima Party's agenda to sever the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria from the State of Israel at the earliest possible opportunity.
“We must say yes, yes, yes to a Palestinian nation-state” on these ancient Jewish lands, Livni enthusiastically told participants in the Herzliya Conference.
Trying to balance her remarks, Livni went on to say Israel should make sure “Palestine” does not become a “terrorist state that continues to threaten Israel.”
She did not, however, say just how Israel could try to “make sure” of this.
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/printarticle.php?articleid=963

The price of being accepted by the world

By MENDEL ZILBERBERG

At one level, Israelis' angry reaction to the Rev. Pat Robertson's suggestion that the stroke which felled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was Divine retribution for the Gaza withdrawal is completely understandable. Coming as the prime minister was struggling for his life, Robertson's remarks struck many as unseemly. (The Israeli press managed to ignore the fact that in the same broadcast Robertson also expressed his affection for Sharon and offered prayers for his well-being.)
To Jewish ears, the attempt to offer a Divine calculus for tragedy also sounded strange. According to our sages, when Moses asked God to reveal His ways, God replied that no man may know His ways and live. At most, a prophet at Moses' level might gain some retrospective understanding of events. Those same sages tell us that the era of prophecy ended long ago.
Nevertheless, there was something over the top about the official Israeli response to Robertson. From the heated responses one would never have guessed that Robertson is one of the most influential defenders of Israel in the United States. His 700 Club broadcast reaches millions of viewers daily, and he has been consistently defending Israel against attacks for 20 years.
THE 70 million US Evangelical Christians are Israel's largest, most vocal base of support. Every poll shows that Israel's security is a critical factor in determining how they vote.
The same cannot be said for American Jews. Israel ranks further down the list of issues of major concern to them - somewhere after "women's reproductive rights."
Insensitive as Robertson's statement might have been - he has since sent Omri Sharon a written apology - it was that of a friend, who sees in disengagement a real threat to Israel's security. Israelis may disagree with the theological principles underlying Robertson's fears (so would leading Torah scholars), but that should not prevent us from recognizing his concerns as the product of his empathy for Israel and the Jewish people.
That's what makes the official response to Robertson's comment altogether too fast and too furious. Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson immediately declared Robertson persona non grata and excluded him from participation in a $50-million Christian tourist park in Galilee. That exclusion is now being reconsidered. Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Ayalon, termed Robertson's remarks "outrageous."
That is not the way Israel should talk to a friend, especially given our short supply of such friends in the world.
THE MORE secure Jews and Christians are in their own beliefs, the less threatened they are by differing views of the other side, the more comfortable the relationship and the less the temptation to theological debate.
To Jews confident of their own beliefs, for instance, it matters not a whit whether Christians believe in the eventual salvation of all Jews by the Christian savior. Since we are sure that day will never come, we can work together until then.
Friendship does not give carte blanche, or mean that Jews should be willing to sacrifice important principles on the altar of friendship. Were Robertson, for instance, supporting missionary activities in Israel; or if the proposed Christian tourist park became a center for such activities, Israel would have a duty to defend the integrity of the Jewish faith.
Tensions between Christians and Jews in the United States are often generated by the internal dynamics of the Jewish community - such as the fundraising needs of organizations that depend on raising the specter of anti-Semitism, and the political identification of most Jews with the Democratic Party. And a certain alienation from faith within the Jewish world may also have contributed to the reaction to Robertson's remark, even in Israel. MORE...
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605886462&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Former Chief of Staff: PA Won´t Recognize Any Borders
By Hillel Fendel

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, ex-IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon warned that the time-honored phrase "territories for peace" has no practical relevance for the Palestinian Authority.
"In light of the fact that the PA does not fulfill its obligations," Yaalon said this morning, "Israel's point of departure is that any border that will be chosen, will be violated by violent activity - unless Israel manages to create significant deterrence."Yaalon related to Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and the reports that the Kadima Party favors additional such moves. He said that they are damaging to Israel's deterrence ability because "they are interpreted by the other side as weakness."Regarding the Kassam rockets fired almost daily from Gaza towards the Negev and Ashkelon areas, the former Chief of Staff said, "Israel has not created reliable deterrence against this threat. Israel's unilateral withdrawals are interpreted as a running away from this threat... Gaza is turning, in front of our very eyes, into Qaedastan and Hamastan.""The bottom line of this analysis," Yaalon concluded, "is that for the foreseeable future, the '67 borders are not defensible."
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97147

Ya'alon: Heed the warning of Gaza
By Ryan Jones
January 23rd, 2006
Bucking ongoing efforts to paint a picture of progress towards peace in the region, former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon Monday looked to set the record straight regarding Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the true intentions of the Palestinian Arabs.
Ya'alon told participants at the prestigious Herzliya Conference that Israel's surrender of the Gaza Strip last summer had immeasurably damaged the nation's ability to deter Islamic aggression against its Jewish population.
“The unilateral withdrawal was seen as a retreat from the threat” of rocket and other attacks, Ya'alon said. Since then, “Israel has been unable to create a credible deterrence for the future.”
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/printarticle.php?articleid=962

Hamas: State in '67 Borders a "Temporary" Solution

Ismail Haniya, the top candidate on the Hamas list for the Palestinian parliamentary elections, said Sunday that Hamas supports only as a temporary solution the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and with Jerusalem as its capital. Haniya emphasized that Hamas does not recognize the existence of the State of Israel and maintains its vision of establishing a Palestinian state throughout all of the area west of the Jordan River. He also reiterated that there is no chance that Hamas would voluntarily disarm as long as Israel exists, Israel Radio reported.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605888541&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

IDF: Fatah-Hamas Violence Likely if Hamas Wins Palestinian Election
Amos Harel

There is likely to be a violent clash between Fatah and Hamas should Hamas win the Palestinian election on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz predicted Sunday. Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Halutz said, "I don't see Hamas winning and Fatah allowing it to take power."Halutz also expressed concern over the threat to Israel posed by the global Jihad movement. "One can feel how it is closing in on us from every direction: from Sinai, from Jordan, from Lebanon. The terror attacks of the last two years attest to this," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/673461.html

U.S. to Shun PA if Hamas is in Coalition
Aluf Benn

The U.S. will not recognize any Palestinian government in which Hamas participates, government sources in Jerusalem said Sunday. The sources said that visiting American envoys told them ten days ago that recognizing such a government would violate American law.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/673468.html

Inside Palestinian Elections
Daoud Kuttab

One visiting U.S. official speculated to me that if you simply took the number of all those on the PA payroll or benefiting from Fatah, you would get the numbers that polls are giving them.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605886476&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

PHOTO: A veiled Alaa Awdeh, 18, attended a Hamas rally Wednesday in Nablus, West Bank.

Islamist Women Redraw Palestinian Debate on Rights

Thanassis Cambanis (Boston Globe)With a veil revealing only her eyes, Alaa Awdeh sounds like the ultimate feminist.Women, she believes, should have equal rights in Palestinian society, especially the right to die in the armed struggle against Israel."That's what I am looking for, to sacrifice my life," said Awdeh, 18, an Islamic studies major at Al Najah University in Nablus and enthusiastic member of the youth wing of Hamas.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/01/21/
islamist_women_redraw_palestinian_debate_on_rights/

U.S. Spent $1.9 Million to Aid Fatah in Elections
By STEVEN ERLANGER
January 23, 2006
JERUSALEM, Jan. 22 - The United States spent about $1.9 million of its yearly $400 million in aid to the Palestinians on dozens of quick projects before elections this week to bolster the governing Fatah faction's image with voters and strengthen its hand in competing with the militant faction Hamas, American and Palestinian officials said Sunday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/international/middleeast/
23mideast.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

“Karadi, Shoot Me!”
Hebron children demonstrate in Jerusalem
News from Hebron The Hebron Press Office Sunday January 22, 2006
Yesterday, Israeli police chief Moshe Karadi, speaking on Israel television, said that he would not rule out using weapons during the planned expulsion of Hebron families from the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood.In reaction, a group of over 50 Hebron schoolchildren traveled to Jerusalem this morning and protested outside the police headquarters wearing bull's-eye targets saying, "Karadi Shoot Me." Hebron leader Noam Arnon told journalists, "Karadi said he would shoot us, so we decided to make his life easier for him – we brought the children here – why should he have to trouble himself to come to Hebron to shoot them!?""Today, the problem is Olmert. Rather than fight terror, he has declared war on Jews, most particularly those of us living in Judea and Samaria. One of this first stops is Hebron."When the children arrived and lined up on the street outside the headquarters, a security agent appeared opposite them, carrying two weapons: an Uzi-gun, slung over his shoulder, and a drawn Gluck 9mm pistol in his hand. A bystander standing at a bus stop told one of the Hebron participants: "I am here every day. Arab buses and Arab pedestrians use this road all the time, yet I've never seen a policeman here before. And this, an agent with his gun drawn…?"According to media reports, the government plans on implementing the expulsion next week, following the Arab elections on Wednesday.

PHOTOS: http://www.hebron.org.il/news.htm

Hebron children to police chief: Shoot us
Children of Hebron settlers demonstrate outside police headquarters in Jerusalem, carry signs of targets on their body urging Police Chief Karadi to shoot them. Settler spokesman: We wanted to spare Karadi trip to Hebron Efrat Weiss
Crossing the line? Dozens of Hebron and Kiriyat Arba children demonstrated outside police headquarters in Jerusalem Sunday, with some carrying signs of targets on their body and urging Police Chief Moshe Karadi to shoot them

The children and their "Karadi, shoot me" signs were in Jerusalem to demonstrate against the police’s handling of recent riots in Hebron.
PHOTOS...
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3204503,00.html

Pentagon Analyst Gets 12 Years for Disclosing Data
David Johnston

A federal judge sentenced a former Defense Department analyst, Lawrence A. Franklin, 59, to more than 12 years in prison Friday after Franklin admitted passing classified military information to two pro-Israel lobbyists and an Israeli diplomat. Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., said at the hearing that he believed Franklin was motivated by a desire to help the U.S., not to damage it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/politics/20cnd-franklin.html

PHOTO: Kevin Wolf/Associated Press
Larry Franklin walking into U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., in August.

Hoenlein: Franklin Sentence "Disturbing"
Hilary Leila Krieger

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said of Franklin's sentence, "The very fact that this kind of climate can exist in the capital of the United States is unacceptable." That "two patriotic American citizens who are working for Jewish organizations who did nothing to violate American security, should have to stand trial and be subject to the public scrutiny and public humiliation, frankly I find very disturbing and a matter that we all have to look at in a much more serious way."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605893973&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

PHOTO: Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press
Supporters of the radical Islamic movement Hamas showed suport for the group Sunday at a campaign rally in the West Bank City of Nablus.

In a Stronghold, Fatah Fights to Beat Back a Rising Hamas

By STEVEN ERLANGER

Wednesday's vote will be the first time that Hamas has run in elections for roles within the Palestinian Authority.
"Hamas wants to infiltrate the institutions and take over," he said. "I think a Palestinian state now is farther away."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/international/middleeast/23
/nablus.html?p&ex=1138078800&en=85099980ce9675cc&ei=5094&partner=
homepage

Peace Now: It's clear to everyone that land must divided
Peace Now Director-General Yariv Oppenheimer expressed support for Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu's comments, in which he said that the Likud would accept territorial compromises in an agreement with the Palestinians.
"The political reality is stronger than every slogan and every politician. From Netayanu to Beilin, it's clear to everyone today that there is no alternative than dividing the land, and the establishment of a Palestinian state," said Oppenheimer. (Efrat Weiss)
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/CdaNewsFlash/0,2297,L-3204666_3089,00.html

Moscow's Mad Gamble
Mortimer B. Zuckerman, U.S. News
Iran today is the mother of Islamic terrorism. Tehran openly provides funding, training, and weapons to the world's worst terrorists, including Hizballah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and it has a cozy relationship with al-Qaeda. It has given sanctuary to major al-Qaeda terrorists, including senior military commander Saif al-Adel, three of Osama bin Laden's sons, and al-Qaeda spokesman Suleiman Abu Ghaith.
It supports many of the barbaric terrorists in Iraq who are murdering innocent civilians, flooding Iraq with money and fighters. It is infiltrating troublemakers into Afghanistan, supporting terrorism against Turkey, sustaining Syria, and had a hand in the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a revolutionary firebrand who has directly threatened the West. In his own words, "We are in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance [i.e., the West] and the Islamic world." He casts himself as Hitler reincarnated, calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map." Who can think that Iran poses no threat to world peace? History tells us that when madmen call for genocide, they usually mean it.
And Russia has made the threat more real. It sold the nuclear power plant at Bushehr to Iran and contracted to sell even more to bring cash into its nuclear industry. Russia provided critical assistance in the development of Iran's Shihab missile, which has an ever expanding delivery range and can carry a warhead designed for a nuclear charge. Within a very few years, in all likelihood, Iran will be able to launch nuclear missiles.
We must urgently find a way to persuade Moscow to reinforce the civilized world rather than subvert it.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/060130/30edit.htm

ABOVE: ONCE A COMMUNIST, ALWAYS A COMMUNIST?
I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY SOME OF MY RUSSIAN FRIENDS THAT MOST MARXIST-COMMUNIST LEADERS DO NOT CALL THEMSELVES “COMMUNISTS” ANY LONGER, BUT THEY PROBABLY ARE. SOME COMMUNISTS HAVE STATED THAT AT SOME POINT IN HISTORY THE WORD “COMMUNISM” WILL BE DROPPED IN FAVOR OF ANOTHER WORD…EVEN THOUGH THE SAME PEOPLE WITH MOSTLY THE SAME IDEOLOGIES CONTINUE.

COMMUNISM HAS ALWAYS TAUGHT THAT KEEPING A SOCIETY AND THE WORLD UNSTABLE, IN ANARCHY AND IN THE MIDST OF CLASS STRUGGLES IS THE COMMUNIST STRATEGY. WHAT DO YOU THINK? OLLIE

IRAN EXTENDS SECRET NUKE PLANT
ICEJ NEWS Monday 23 January

Tehran: Military action a 'fatal mistake' for Israel Iran has secretly extended the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, 200 miles south of Teheran, constructing fake buildings around concealed centrifuges which Western governments fear will be used to manufacture weapons-grade uranium.A recent US intelligence analysis of satellite photographs of nuclear sites in Iran and Pakistan strengthens fears that the Islamic regime is secretly developing atomic weapons, Britain's Daily Telegraph reports Monday.
"Iran's facilities are scaled exactly like another state's facilities that were designed to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons," said the US report drawing a direct link between the successful Pakistani nuclear program and Iran's quest for atomic weapons.
"These pictures indicate that Iran is replicating every major step that Pakistan took in its atomic bomb program," said Security analyst John Pike.
Earlier Sunday Iran said Israel would be making a "fatal mistake" should it resort to military action against Teheran's nuclear program and dismissed veiled threats from the Jewish state as a "childish game."
The comments followed the re-iteration of Israel's stance on the issue by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz who said the Jewish State would not accept a nuclear Iran under any circumstances.
While Mofaz stopped short of an outright threat of military action, he said Israel "must have the capability to defend itself...and this we are preparing."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Israel was only trying to add to Western pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear program.
"We consider Mofaz's comments a form of psychological warfare. Israel knows just how much of a fatal mistake it would be (to attack Iran)," Asefi told reporters, according to The Jerusalem Post. "This is just a childish game by Israel."

Netanyahu to call for moving fence

Jan. 22, 2006 Gil Hoffman

PHOTO: Israel's security fence.Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu will call for shifting the security fence eastward and initiating economic projects to help the Palestinians in his speech on Sunday night at the Herzliya Conference, sources close to Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu will stress the need to ensure that Israel will have secure and defensible borders. To accomplish this, he will recommend restoring the fence to borders recommended by security officials before Supreme Court decisions changed its course.
The borders Netanyahu will outline will include the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights, the Judean desert, an undivided Jerusalem, settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, and the hilltops overlooking Ben-Gurion Airport, the Gush Dan region and Road 443.
Netanyahu gave a preview of his Herzliya speech when he addressed a delega! tion from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday. In the AIPAC speech, Netanyahu said that negotiations could be conducted with the Palestinians based on reciprocity if there were a Palestinian partner that recognized Israel and would fight terror.
To help the Palestinians, Netanyahu told AIPAC officials that he supported economic projects that could encourage their economic development. Netanyahu is expected to elaborate on such projects in the Herzliya speech.
He has made a point in recent speeches of encouraging Kadima to reveal its red lines. In a speech at Tel Aviv University on Thursday, he accused the press of "hiding from the public that Kadima intends to withdraw from 90 percent of Judea and Samaria." The bulk of Netanyahu's Herzliya speech will be devoted to the issue of security.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605886357&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Iran: Israeli military strike against nuclear program would be 'fatal mistake'
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies
Iran on Sunday said Israel would be making a "fatal mistake" if it resorted to military action against Tehran's nuclear program, and dismissed comments on the issue made by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as a "childish game."On Saturday, Mofaz said "Israel will not accept Iran's nuclear armament," and added that Israel was prepared for military action to stop Iran's nuclear program.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/673006.html

Mofaz: Either way, we retreat
By Ryan Jones
January 22nd, 2006
Israeli Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz told the Herzliya Conference Sunday Israel will be watching closely to see if it still has a “Palestinian” peace partner after this week, but that the nation must be prepared to surrender its biblical heartland either way.
“If we find a legitimate and effective partner, we should move forward according to the Road Map peace plan, while understanding there are stages on the way to a permanent agreement,” Mofaz said of the internationally-backed plan that would see another Arab Muslim state birthed in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
“However,” he continued, “If it turns out there is no partner, Israel needs to take its destiny into its own hands” and “establish defensible borders, strengthen settlement blocs, keep Jerusalem undivided, including its surrounding area, and demilitarize the Palestinian territory.
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/article.php?articleid=961

Syria accuses Israel of assassinating Arafat
21 Jan 2006 13:28:02 GMT
Source: Reuters

DAMASCUS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Israel on Saturday of assassinating former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the cause of whose death 14 months ago remains a mystery.
"Of the many assassinations that Israel carried out in a methodical and organised way, the most dangerous thing that Israel did was the assassination of President Yasser Arafat," Assad told a gathering of Arab lawyers.
"This was under the world's gaze and its silence, and not one state dared to issue a statement or stance towards this, as though nothing happened."
Arafat died in Paris on Nov. 11, 2004 at the age of 75 after being rushed from his West Bank compound to a French military hospital.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21352750.htm

World Bank Foresees PNA's Budget deficit to reach $1 billion
GAZA, Palestine, January 23, 2006 (IPC+Agencies)

The World Bank expected that the PNA's Budget deficit to reach $1 billion by 2006 due the wages inflammation in Government sector.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=13119

Nobel laureate: Israel asking for bloodshed
By Ryan Jones
January 22nd, 2006
Top game theorist says headlong rush for 'peace' lessens the chances
Rushing to surrender territory to Israel's enemies in an effort to increase security and foster peace is a bankrupt policy that will only lead to further bloodshed.
So said Nobel Laureate Professor Israel Aumann Saturday evening during a speech to participants in the Herzliya Conference on the folly of Israel's “disengagement” from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.
Aumann explained the problem is most Israelis, unlike their Islamic foes, have become convinced they are out of time.
“The Arabs always said they have time, and that they can wait 10, 20 or 50 years until we disappear,” he noted.
But Israelis, “we're in a hurry. We're destroying beautiful, flourishing communities in the name of peace, because 'something has to be done.'”
Instead, Aumann lectured, Israel should be patient and wait until the Arabs truly accept the fact of Israel's existence, regardless of how long it takes.
“If we had patience,” he said, “We might really achieve peace. [But] anyone who wants peace now won't ever get a lasting peace.”
“The very act of running headlong after the longed-for peace is precisely that which distances it from us.”
The man recognized as one of the world's leading game theorists also criticized his government's failure to demand any reciprocity from the Arabs, while under Western pressure Israel continues to dole out concessions.
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/printarticle.php?articleid=960

ISRAEL’S NOBEL LAUREATE CALLS THE STATE 'CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT' REGARDING GAZA EVACUEES
The Media Line Sunday News Roundup 22Jan
Professor Robert Aumann, this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics, used his speech at a major policy conference to blast the government for its treatment of citizens forced out of their homes in the Gaza Strip. Mincing no words, Aumann said, “The care for the deportees represents a national disgrace. This is criminal negligence.” He cited the living conditions and failure of the government to provide any of the promised compensation in many instances. Aumann said in those cases where money has been paid, “those who have received compensation are forced to use it for their very existence.”

Wake up, Washington!
By Ryan Jones
January 22nd, 2006
In its latest attempt to whitewash the Palestinian Arabs as an unfortunate peace-loving people, the US State Department Saturday insisted the general “Palestinian” populace rejects Iranian and Syrian support for groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/printarticle.php?articleid=959

OLMERT TO REVERSE STANCE ON UNILATERAL ACTS
The Media Line Sunday News Roundup 22Jan
As Ariel Sharon’s principal launcher of trial balloons, now Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was an early proponent of taking more unilateral acts such as the Gaza pullout. Now, however, advance word of a major policy speech Olmert will deliver on Tuesday shows a change in attitude. Instead of pushing ahead unilaterally in the absence of a negotiating partner [as it was always phrased], the acting prime minister will reiterate and stress Israel’s acceptance of the Road Map peace plan. The same theme was sounded in Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s interview with American journalist Lily Weymouth that appears in Sunday’s Washington Post. Livni told Weymouth that, “We are back on the track of the roadmap...we are not talking now about more unilateral steps.” One analyst at The Media Line points out that Olmert’s first policy speech will be closely watched by the international community, and especially the United States. Realizing that, Olmert, a seasoned politician, will make certain Washington hears what it wants to hear.

Terror leader revels in killing Israeli civilians

Aaron Klein talks to Brigades chief about Tel Aviv suicide bombing

January 20, 2006
By Aaron Klein

Bomber Sami Antar, 20, a resident of the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, blew himself up in a small restaurant in the southern section of the city near the main Tel Aviv bus station. Most of the 22 injured were diners eating outdoors at the shop's sidewalk seating area.
The Islamic Jihad terror group claimed responsibility for the bombing, but WND was first to report the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, was behind the blast.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48423

AS GOES HEBRON -S.O.S. TO ALL PEOPLE OF THE WORLD
by Eugene Narrett, PhD.

January 16, 2006, 17 Tevet 5766, The caretaker / destroyer government in Israel, on behalf of its puppetmasters in Washington, London, and related fashioners of brave new world, has declared the ancient Jewish city and holy site of Hebron "a closed military zone." NO JEWS are allowed to enter Hebron till at least January 22 except for those few hundred the puppet government in Israel already allows to live there under conditions it makes very difficult to sustain. The Jews of Hebron are or should be heroes to all people in the world. They are being taken down. This command and closure has vital, life-changing and life-threatening implications for ALL the people in the world. Continue reading "AS GOES HEBRON -S.O.S. TO ALL PEOPLE OF THE WORLD"

Quran's 'war verses' at work

January 13, 2006
The other night on FOX News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" show, I mentioned that the more a Muslim becomes serious about the Quran, the more radical he becomes. I pointed out that there are approximately 109 verses in the Quran that some scholars have called "the war verses. " They are called this because they teach violence and aggression against the "infidels," which means all people who do not accept Islam.
The Houston Chronicle reported Jan. 12 just how effectively those verses are used to radicalize Muslims...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48330

A Light Unto The Nations...Ha!

by Irwin N. GraulichI am cashing in all my Israel bonds. Jews have excelled in medicine, accounting, law (unfortunately), and business. Yet, when it comes to running a country, I am beginning to understand the incredible wisdom of my Jewish mother who always said, "Jews should never touch electricity or politics. Leave that to the goyim (non Jews), who are much better at it."Just look at what is going on in Israel today. Who the hell ever heard of "unilateral withdrawal," after winning a war decisively. "Unilateral" means that we are such good guys, we will independently decide to give you something of ours which you do not deserve, even though you continue to blow us up and not even recognize our existence.Continue reading "(Israel) A Light Unto The Nations...Ha!"

'Cool' anti-Semitism

by Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST

Jan. 19, 2006 It's official: Anti-Semitism is "in." The decision to award the Palestinian film Paradise Now the Golden Globes Award for best foreign film tells us that Palestinian terror against Israelis has become so acceptable that it is now Hollywood kitsch. The sight of the Jewish American diva Sarah Jessica Parker, of Sex in the City fame, excitedly announcing that a film which glorifies the mass murder of Jews in Israel was the big winner for 2005 only served to demonstrate how deep this trivialization of evil now runs. Continue reading " 'Cool' anti-Semitism"

"How horrendously sickening and scandalous that the PLO's coarse propaganda film "Paradise Now" received a Golden Globe as the best foreign language film of 2005.
This travesty represents a new nadir in Hollywood's moral depravity and obtuseness. In their "wisdom," the "enlightened voters" thus showered totally undeserved praise on a nauseating film that justifies suicide/homicide bombings, a particularly barbaric, unspeakably brutal form of Arab terror which is clearly and indisputably among the worst crimes against humanity."
excerpt from a letter sent to Hollywood by Angela Bertz, writer of the article below

The Red Carpet
Dave Alpern
The last phone call Izzedine al-Masri ever made to his family was to tell them he was spending the night away from home. Izzedine was thousands of miles away from the bright lights of Hollywood and his "tragic" tale was very much the stuff, of what the New York Times would describe as "a taut, ingeniously calculated thriller".

However the 48 hours taking place on those two scorching days in August 2001 would be no make-believe and the bright lights of the Pizza Parlour where Izzedine was heading on that morning would need no studio lights. The only special effects would be the natural brightness of another beautiful sunny day in Jerusalem and scores of happy families enjoying a lovely day. The hundreds of people that would ultimately take part in this real life calamity would be no actors, stage hands or extras. The fifteen people including seven children and five members of the same family who were destined to die, would never have chosen the role life dished out for them that day.

Izzedine’s family was concerned. Owners of a restaurant in Jenin, they were also a little puzzled, as their son had never spent the night away from home before and he had not taken anything with him. He told them he was visiting a friend that had just been released from prison. Izzedine was in fact spending the night in the Palestinian Authority town of Ramallah, in an apartment rented out by Mahmud Wail Daglas. His role, though important, would have been a minor part in the whole scheme of events that would later unfold. His apartment was used by Izzedine as a safe haven before this 23 year old would launch into his deadly mission.

The next morning Izzedine left the flat and joined up with a young woman. Ahlam Tmimi, was no doubt as deserving as any Hollywood heroine could ever be. Attractive, with her long flowing hair and dark eyes she would play a central role in this real life documentary of murder most foul. On the outside the pair had seemingly little in common. He was a waiter in his family's restaurant and she was a university student, with aspirations to eventually become a journalist.

The couple left Ramallah on the morning of August 9th 2001 by taxi and headed towards the Kalandia checkpoint, which was one of the main entry points into Israel. The pair said little to each other as the taxi sped towards its destination. Before they arrived Izzedine handed Ahlam the guitar case he had been carrying. It was packed with explosives. They gambled, that even with tight security, a Palestinian woman wearing Western clothes and carrying a guitar case would not attract too much attention. Shortly before they reached the checkpoint, Izzedine descended from the taxi and walked casually through the checkpoint. He carried nothing on his person and would have attracted no particular attention. He sailed past the security. Ahlam stayed in the taxi. With a sigh of relief that would have had any movie-goer on the edge of their seats, we would have watched as the gamble paid off and the taxi, with the guitar case and its macabre contents, were on their way to play out their finest role.

Once through the checkpoint Izzedine got back in the taxi and the pair drove silently towards the center of Jerusalem. The taxi took them to the old city walls, where they then headed by foot to the Israeli side of the town. Izzedine's lovely accomplice's mission was to direct Izzedine to a "suitable spot". A few minutes before they parted and to give the idea that they were tourists Ahlam said a few words in English to Izzedine. Other than that they had spoken little to each other.

At 2 p.m. the couple parted at a busy junction, just outside the Sbarro pizza parlor. Her part was over. Ahlam had had but a few lines. These would later cede major retributions and a lifetime of imprisonment, to contemplate the enormity of the monstrous part she played in the mass murder that was now seconds away.

Izzedine may have stood for a few seconds of thoughtful contemplation before entering the packed pizza parlour. He may have thought for a few brief moments of his sister. A few days ago he had asked her, if he became a martyr would she name her soon to be born baby after him. Izzedine had no known record of political extremism and she dismissed the threat as nothing more than some far flung fantasy.

Izzedine would have stepped into the brightly lit restaurant. He may have looked round him. He would have seen smiling happy faces. Children and parents enjoying a cold drink, a pizza and half hours respite from the fierce summer heat. The air would have been abuzz with activity. Izzedine had his guitar flung over his shoulder. Choosing a spot in the center of the ground floor of this 2 story restaurant, he may have stood for the briefest of seconds and thought of the action he was about to take. One thing is for sure he would have felt no pity for his intended victims. He was far beyond any human emotion.

In one dreadful split second Izzedine detonated the contents of his guitar case. It contained between 5-10 kilograms of explosives. The effect of the blast was catastrophic and wreaked havoc among the diners. The bomb unleashed not only its explosives into a packed crowd, but intensified the damage ten fold as it sprayed its additional contents of nails, bolts and shrapnel. A cell phone of one of the victims was later found with a one inch nail embedded in it. The restaurant was gutted and nearby shop windows were blown out.

One of the busiest junctions in Jerusalem turned into a scene of carnage.

Ahlam was already way down the street when the ambulances started racing towards the junction. Many people had been killed instantly and many of those injured and in serious condition had been hit by the nails and shrapnel. Paramedics fought to save them. The eventual death toll was 15 and the number of injured was over 130. Hours later at 10 pm that evening ten of the bodies still lay unidentified at a forensic institute.

A representative of the Dutch Embassy was sent to help identify a family of Dutch origins. The Schijveschuurder family was in Jerusalem for the day with five of their eight children. The next day four of their children, one of them on a hospital stretcher, attended the funeral of both their parents and three of their siblings. Their grandmother, a Dutch survivor of Auschwitz would watch as the five bodies of her son, daughter in law and three grandchildren were lowered into the ground and say "I vowed to rebuild my family after the war, and that is what I did. Now for my family, Arafat has finished what Hitler started."

These were not fictional events glorified from behind the lens of a camera. The families that lost their loved ones that day had not spent the day in makeup, joking and drinking cups of tea between endless shoots.

They were real people.

Izzedine’s brother would not have rehearsed his lines when he said "This is a unique operation for its quality and success... Palestinians everywhere can now hold up their heads."

In a world that is already weeping wasted buckets for Palestinians plighthood the last thing it needs is a movie that attempts to show the human side of suicide bombers. Still maybe one shouldn’t be surprised. Since the Palestinians invented themselves on the world stage a few decades ago their only cultural achievement has been the deplorable use of human sacrifice and the creation of a society that glorifies and revels in death.

A movie called “Paradise Now” directed by Hany Abu-Assad is now being hailed around the world. It follows 48 hours in the lives of two car mechanics from Nablus as they prepare for a suicide mission in Israel. This despicable mockery of mass murder has already been awarded the European Film Academy’s Best Screenplay and the Berlin Festivals Blue Angel Award.

A few days ago, far away from the horrors of Sbarro Pizza parlour in Jerusalem a group of journalists in Hollywood would have sat comfortably in their armchairs watching this years nominees for the Golden Globe awards. One of these movies was Paradise Now. The Golden Globes was founded in 1943 and after the Oscars and BAFTAS is one of the most important events in the movie industry, boasting a worldwide audience of 250 million people world wide.

Maybe only in Hollywood is it possible to put a human face to mass murder and portray people that carry out these barbaric acts as having the same hopes and aspirations as their victims. Mass murder has no human side and whatever your hardships in life, or whatever you conceive them to be, there can never be any possible justification for going into a packed restaurant, or getting on a crowded bus, strapped with explosives, and murdering innocent people, many of them children. To award any film that seeks to show this in some sensitive, human light is a blatant insult to the dignity and sanctity of human life.

Arnold Roth and his family, who lost their 15 year old daughter Malka now have to live those 48 hours that Izzedine and Ahlam prepared to murder their much cherished daughter every minute, of every day for the rest of their lives "We're part of a circle which now consists of several thousand families who have lost a child or a parent or a spouse to an act of murder. And now I've learned that for the people who are touched by an act of terror in a personal way, it isn't an event which you work your way past, it actually keeps happening every minute and every day.”

Human suffering on this scale is not something that needs glorifying on the big screen. The “red carpet” that welcomes the Golden Globe nominees this year will be tinged with the blood of more than 1000+ dead Israelis that have been murdered by more than 150 Palestinian homicide attacks in Israel.

It was barely 48 hours after the bombing that Izzedine’s sister would give birth to a son. She named him after a man that had killed 15 innocent people. When asked what hopes she had for the child, she said she wanted him to be "like his uncle."

Angela Bertz – Israel

While Hollywood cheers, the Arabs are starting to question whether all this terrorism really is a good idea.
MEMRI, January 19, 2006
Arab Columnists Criticize the Justification of Terrorism
In the aftermath of the November 9, 2005 terrorist bombings in Amman, Jordan, various articles appeared in the Arab media criticizing political justification of terrorism in Arab countries, which, they state, prevents the Arabs from taking anti-terrorism measures. One writer explained that the Amman bombings were unconnected in any way to the war in Iraq or to the Palestinian problem; another accused the Arab media of misrepresenting terrorism in the Arab countries and thus leading the Arab public to justify it. Yet another called on the Arab public to recognize the true causes of terror and to work towards eradicating them.
For the full article click on the following link:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD107306
CONTRIBUTED BY BRITISH ISRAEL GROUP http://www.zionist.org.uk/

RADIO TOVIA SINGER Is Islam a Global Threat?
Guest Avi Lipkin
http://israelnationalradio.com/

Millions of Jews traced to four women
Study identifies genetic signatures for 3.5 million Ashkenazi Jews
NEW YORK - About 3.5 million of today’s Ashkenazi Jews — 40 percent of the total Ashkenazi population — are descended from just four women, a genetic study indicates.
Those women apparently lived somewhere in Europe within the last 2,000 years, but not necessarily in the same place or even the same century, said lead author Dr. Doron Behar of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel.
Each woman left a genetic signature that shows up in their descendants today, he and colleagues say in a report published online by the American Journal of Human Genetics. Together, their four signatures appear in about 40 percent of Ashkenazi Jews, while being virtually absent in non-Jews and found only rarely in Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin, the researchers said.
Ashkenazi Jews are a group with mainly central and eastern European ancestry. Ultimately, though, they can be traced back to Jews who migrated from Israel to Italy in the first and second centuries, Behar said. Eventually this group moved to Eastern Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries and expanded greatly, reaching about 10 million just before World War II, he said.
Mike Hammer, who does similar research at the University of Arizona, said he found the work tracing back to just four ancestors “quite plausible ... I think they’ve done a really good job of tackling this question.”
But he said it’s not clear the women lived in Europe.
“They may have existed in the Near East,” Hammer said. “We don’t know exactly where the four women were, but their descendants left a legacy in the population today, whereas ... other women’s descendants did not.”
Behar said the four women he referred to did inherit their genetic signatures from female ancestors who lived in the Near East. But he said he preferred to focus on these later European descendants because they were at the root of the Ashkenazi population explosion.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10827385/

GERMANY GAVE PASSPORTS TO MOSSAD
ICEJ NEWS Thursday 19 January

Secret Services Under Fire for Middle East Role German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (pictured) has cancelled his trip to Israel, scheduled for Thursday after lawmakers demanded his presence in an emergency debate on the role of German secret services in the weeks before the American-led invasion of Iraq.The debate gives a new twist to a newspaper report last week that published details of cooperation between Germany's BND Secret Service and Israel's Mossad in preparation for a potential military strike on Iran.At the heart of the scandal is the role played by former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in publicly opposing the Iraqi war - a crucial factor in his narrow 2003 election victory - while allegedly ordering German agents stationed in Baghdad to assist the American forces in identifying strategic targets as the bombing campaign began.The issue is unlikely to overshadow the visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel to Israel in ten days time - the latest in a series of high profile, and surprisingly successful, diplomatic ventures for the new German leader. But it is likely to turn the attention of lawmakers on the role played by their BND in assisting Israeli agents to gain access to Iran.Speaking to the Cologne-based daily Kolner Stadtanzeiger a former official in Gemany's BND Secret Service has admitted that Germany helped the Mossad place agents in Middle Eastern countries by providing them with German passports. According to the newspaper report, published on January 13, some of the sensitive missions related to air-strike preparations against nuclear facilities in Iran.

OLMERT: OUTPOST BATTLE A FIGHT FOR RULE OF LAW
ICEJ NEWS Thursday 19 January

Acting PM orders IDF to evacuate 20 illegal settlements Israel is mobilizing over 1,000 police and soldiers to forcibly remove settlers from the former wholesale market in Hebron and the Amona outpost near Ofra, military officials said Thursday, but will only begin the evacuation following the Palestinian general elections towards the end of next week. At a special session of the security cabinet on Wednesday Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert directed Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to present an immediate plan for the evacuation of some 20 illegal settlement outposts calling the issue "a fight over the rule of law." The order follows several days of violent unrest in Hebron, where settlement youths clashed with security forces distributing eviction notices in the heart of the disputed city.Speaking on Army Radio on Thursday newly appointed Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said it was time to remove the illegal outposts. "We are witnessing a group of youngsters who are trying to instigate a process in which the government is perceived as a foreign entity," said Livni - who retained her role as Justice Minister in Wednesday's cabinet re-shuffle. But settlement leaders fought back, canceling a meeting with Olmert scheduled for next week and accusing him of being deaf to their legitimate case. "With all due respect, Olmert never dealt directly with the outpost issue, and as he listens to the prosecution and defense establishment, he should also listen to us," a source in the Yesha Settlement council told Ha'aretz. "He should not be surprised if everything goes up in flames," the source warned. On Thursday the IDF lifted its military closure on Jewish areas of Hebron, implemented on Monday after several days of clashes between settlers and security forces. The riots were sparked by the High Court decision to evict eight Jewish families from properties they have occupied for several years in the wholesale market in response to petitions submitted by local Palestinians. Although the setters claim to own the title deeds to the houses, Olmert appears determined to implement the Court decision and honor the long-standing Israeli commitment to US President George W. Bush to tackle illegal Jewish settlement activity.Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz meanwhile said that the deadline for the Court-ordered evacuation of Hebron was February 15, and that Amona should be dismantled by the end of January. Calling it a "classic case of law and order," IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz blamed Israel's traditionally "lenient attitude" to the settlers for inflaming the situation. "They see Amona as the place where they'll defeat Israel," he said. "There are increasing voices calling for establishing the state of Judea and eliminating the State of Israel. It's not a pullout, it's a classic case of law and order."

Study Calls for International Control of Holy Sites
ICEJ NEWS Thursday 19 January
Israel and the Palestinians should allow the international community to supervise Jerusalem's Temple Mount and the city's other holy sites, a study carried out by a liberal Jerusalem think tank and released Tuesday said. "The strong connection of members of all monotheistic religions to the city on the one hand, and the lack of trust between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the other justifies some international intervention" the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies states in its report.

DID YOU KNOW…
Latest poverty report issued by National Insurance Institute reveals -

"Over 1.5 million Israelis live below the poverty level."
Israel now leads the Western World in child poverty!
714,000 children in Israel lack the basic essentials we all take for granted... food, clothing, decent housing, medicine and all the rest.
Families are being evicted, elderly women rummage in garbage bins, work can't be found!
Benefits have been slashed for the poorest and most helpless in Israeli society...single parents, abused children, the disabled and the elderly.
Children growing up in such poverty develop a lack of self-esteem, behavioral and learning problems. Their future is at stake!
Ahavas Chesed http://www.ahavaschesed.net/

Peres: Gaza was just the beginning
By Ryan Jones
January 19th, 2006
Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres confirmed Wednesday that last summer's Gaza “disengagement” was only the beginning of Ariel Sharon's strategy to fully divide the Land of Israel and relieve the Jews of their biblical heartland.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Peres – who last week resigned as a Knesset Member in order to position himself for a government post after the March 28 elections – said Sharon had told him the Gaza pullout was not the end of the story, but the beginning of a series of surrenders he believed would ultimately bring an end to Israel's conflict with the Arab world.
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/printarticle.php?articleid=952

Hebron Jews decry closure of holy city
By Ryan Jones
January 17th, 2006
Hebron's Jewish community issued a scathing response to Monday's decision to declare Judaism's second holiest city a military zone closed to all non-resident Jews as the government of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert works to curtail the expansion of Jewish life there.
A spokesman for the community noted in a statement released to the press that in Hebron, “the first
Jewish city in [the Land of Israel], the roots of the Jewish people, site of...the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs,” Jewish life was restricted for centuries by the Muslims, but that the Jewish people never imagined their own government would behave in similar fashion.
For 700 years, “from 1267, following the Mameluk victory over the Crusaders, until the Six Day War in 1967,” the spokesman wrote, the “entrance to [the Cave of the Patriarchs – burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob] was off-limits to Jews.”
“Now, the State of Israel, impersonating the Mameluks...is again closing” the important holy site to the millions of Jews who are not residents of Hebron.
The local Jewish community, the spokesman said, would not be surprised if what it sees as the Olmert government's pandering to international public opinion resulted in the city becoming permanently off-limits to Jews in the very near future.
The statement concluded that the “best way to restore 'law and order' in Hebron is not by forbidding Jews to enter the city; rather it is to rescind expulsion notices and allow Jews to continue to live and expand in the City of the Forefathers.”
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/printarticle.php?articleid=950

Rabbis warn Olmert over Hebron
By Ryan Jones
January 17th, 2006
A group of Israeli rabbis have cautioned Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over his government's sudden rush to curtail Jewish life in Hebron, reminding the stand-in leader of the consequences paid by former premiers who dared to “disengage” from the Land of Israel.
“All those who harm the Land of Israel declare war on God and his commands, and face the consequences,” Ynet quoted from a letter written by Rabbi Gedalia Axelrod, a former Haifa rabbinical judge, and Rabbis Shalom Wolpe and Yekutiel Rapp of SOS Israel.
The rabbis brought as examples the fates of Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon, pointing out that “prime ministers who harmed the Land of Israel never succeeded in completing their term in office.”
Though the leftist Ynet attempted to portray the authors of the letter as “extremists,” the rabbis insisted it was “out of sheer concern that we urge you Mr. Olmert not to walk down the path of your predecessors...”
“Don’t make the hasty move of abandoning the Land of Israel, and don't bring catastrophe upon the people of Israel and yourself,” they pleaded.
Olmert recently vowed to press forward with what he and Shimon Peres now refer to as “Sharon's legacy,” a plan which reports indicate includes the abandonment of most of Israel's biblical patrimony in Judea, Samaria and possibly even eastern Jerusalem.
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/printarticle.php?articleid=951

Disengagement Architect: Netanyahu Will Also Disengage

Jan 13, '06 / 13 Tevet 5766

By Ezra HaLevi
Disengagement architect Maj.-Gen. (Ret.) Uzi Dayan claims that Netanyahu will eventually withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria, and is just "buying time."
Dayan, formerly an IDF deputy chief of staff, first proposed unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 1999, when he served as Ehud Barak's national security adviser. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon kept Dayan as his national security adviser after winning the elections in 2001. Dayan spoke with the Forward newspaper and was asked, "Which of the main candidates for prime minister — Ehud Olmert, Amir Peretz and Benjamin Netanyahu — is most likely to support further disengagement?
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=96592

Iran secretly expanded underground centrifuge facilities throughout 2005
WASHINGTON — Iran significantly expanded its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz in 2005 with the construction of an underground centrifuge cascade hall designed to contain 50,000 centrifuges required for uranium enrichment. On Jan. 13, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security [ISIS] released a satellite image that showed seven buildings under construction in 2005.
http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/

Israel to U.S.: Strike on Iran is feasible
Israel's military brass has concluded that an Israeli or U.S. strike on Iran could eliminate that nation's nuclear weapons facilities. Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz ordered such a report as part of strategic cooperation talks with the United States.
Israeli military chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash discussed the report during his visit to the United States last week. Zeevi-Farkash met the heads of several U.S. intelligence agencies, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, and argued that an air strike against Iran was feasible and would set back Teheran's nuclear program for up to a decade.
Asked last week whether Iran's nuclear weapons program could be eliminated in a military strike, Halutz did not blink. "Professionally, the answer is yes," Halutz told a defense seminar in Tel Aviv.
Zeevi-Farkash has gained credibility in the U.S. intelligence community. He headed several joint forums in which Israel provided accurate intelligence on Syria and Iran as well as assessments on Iraq's Saddam Hussein. But the Bush administration has quelled any serious U.S. discussion over any attack on Iran. U.S. intelligence assessments say the administration could wait until at least 2008 before Iran emerged as a nuclear threat. That would give the United States enough time to implement plans to complete its military wi! thdrawal from Iraq over the next 18 months.
http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/

ARTICLES ABOUT THE BIBLE, ETC.

Written from Biblical Tamar

Jan.22, 2006

chris@bible-light.com
Shalom from Zion's South Country,Did you know that Jericho is not the only city in the Bible called, "TheCity of Palms"? Judges 1:16, "And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went upout of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wildernessof Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt amongthe people."Israeli authorities have identified the area of Biblical Tamar Park - wherewe have our project of planting date palm trees - as this exact placedescribed in Judges 1:16. (Sometime later I may write some more about theKenites and who their descendants are today.) I have just learned, also,that the Israeli authorities want this place to become once more like "acity of palm trees." I didn't know that when BLI began the project! Dr. DeWayne Coxon, the Christian minister appointed by Israel as the curatorof Biblical Tamar Park, arrived on Friday. We have been "shopping" for thecorrect palms to plant here. I think we have about settled on the ones thatwill meet our objective of greening this part of the Arava desert. We arebeginning with the entrance to the park, and if the Lord lays it on manyhearts to help in this project, we can do much more. Bible Light thus far isthe only organization doing this here, and it is an exciting challenge.Please pray as the project moves forward. There are decisions to make andthe big one is concerning water. There is surveying, also, that must be doneto make sure they are not planted in areas where sidewalks, etc. will go inlater.I naively expected to see the entrance way half lined with trees already.But living here I understand more all the pros and cons of such a projectwhich is so huge it certainly cannot be done over night - and withoutcareful planning.
I will be giving progress reports as long as I'm in the land and willpersonally experience this progress myself. Taking pictures, of course, toprint and inform you more.I am enjoying the warmer weather here; however, it can get really chilly,especially at night. It was close to freezing since I came here a week ago.But my room is warm with a new heater/air conditioner unit. And the last fewdays have been lovely.I trust you are well and praising the Lord for each day He gives us to serveHim by blessing others. Thanks so much for your prayers and help to BibleLight and me, making it possible to be here and do these land developingprojects. We have wonderful promises to that end such as: "When the Lordshall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory" (Psalm 102:16).In His Love,Chris

Understanding The Difficult Words of Jesus
by Roy Blizzard, Ph.D., and David Bivin
Reviewed by Ron Moseley:
Although this book was first published in 1983, it leaps ahead of most research on the biblical text because it deals with the Hebraic background. Both Blizzard and Bivin discuss the problems of modern scholarship in understanding a Jewish book from a Greek viewpoint. This book does an excellent job of rendering statistics on the percentage of Hebraic thought found in the New Testament language. The linguistic research methods used by Blizzard and Bivin separate the Hebrew from first century Aramaic in a simple, but lucid manner that can be understood by all. I highly recommend this book for the basics of Hebrew thought prior to launching into any serious Bible study.

Jesus The Jewish Theologian
by Brad Young, Ph.D.
Reviewed by Ron Moseley:
Jesus The Jewish Theologian places Yeshua in the first century context needed to understand the New Testament writings. As usual, Dr. Young addresses the parables of Yeshua with adept understanding of Semitic theology, leaving the reader with a novel but sensible glance of Yeshua's Jewish teaching methods. Without realizing Yeshua's Jewish theology readers are easily pulled to the Greek mindset missing the beauty of the birth, baptism, temptation, and kingdom message seen in its Jewish form. Some of my favorite sections of this book deal with the seemingly inflexible topics such as divorce, adultery, and Jewish grace, which have simple answers when viewed properly. I recommend Jesus The Jewish Theologian to every serious student and pastor.

Yeshua A Guide To The Real Jesus And The Original Church
by Ron Moseley, Ph.D.
Review by Gina Worsham:
This is a one stop shopping source for students seeking easily accessed information related to the Jewishness of Jesus and the Hebraic roots of nascent Christianity. Although there is a plethora of information on this subject, Dr. Moseley has made the difficult easy on complicated subjects such as the Pharisees and synagogue functions carried over into the second century church. In the words of Dr. Marvin Wilson, "Yeshua: A Guide To The Real Jesus And The Original Church is must reading for all serious students desiring to explore the historical and biblical linkage between the synagogue and church." I highly recommend this book. It is not a conclusive source on everything Jewish about the church, but it covers the subjects well. One of my favorite things about this book is the use and explanation of Jewish idioms answering such questions as why did Jesus spit on the ground and put it in the man's eye? Why the man was forbidden to bury his father before following Jesus? Why the woman was healed who touched the hem of Yeshua's garment? What binding and loosing meant in the first century, and why did Peter cut off the servant's ear?

Ezekiel 33 Graphics
http://www.ezekiel33graphics./
homestead.com/

ISRAEL TRAVEL
OPPORTUNITIES

PAINTING: This is my beloved son!

PHOTO: Person being baptized in the Jordan River in Yardenit, Israel

Tourism in Israel Increased 28% in 2005
Jerusalem PostThe Ministry of Tourism reported that

almost two million tourists came to Israel in 2005,

a 28% increase over 2004.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1136361106645&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

BFP Opportunities
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/h2n2.php?fn=opportunities/optravel/index.html

2006 DISCOVERY TOUR TO ISRAEL
September 9 - 21

Maybe you’ve been to Israel several times and would like to return but see some less visited sites. Or perhaps you want to make your first visit because you have an interest in Israel history, modern and ancient. Then the Discovery tour is for you. As you look over the itinerary below you’ll see the unique places we will be going. Please come along!

For information contact Carol Pederson, 1006 Hill Court, Shoreview, MN 55125. 651-490-9012 or e-mail shalomcp@usfamily.net Travel arrangements will be made by FRIENDLY PLANET TRAVEL, P. O. Box 505, Jenkintown, PA 19046. 1-800-555-5765.

Go to Israel

with Rance & Brandy Cook
http://www.friendlyplanet.com/sponsored/idt-israel-jordan-02-06.html

Travel with
Larry and Mary Ehrlich
ehrlichshalom@cox.net

Tour Israel with
Ron & Carol Cantrell
http://www.shalom-shalom-jerusalem.org/tourisrael.html

THE WESTERN WALL
LIVE WEBCAM
http://english.thekotel.org/cameras.asp

Great articles on the News, Bible Teaching,

Torah Portions, Books and Materials, Israel Tours, etc.
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/
http://www.bfpusa.org/

SUBSCRIBE NOW
To receive a six month free subscription to Bridges for Peace publications please fill in the coupon below. Subscriptions are offered on a donation basis.
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/h2n2.php?fn=subscribe.html

Israel Government Gateway
Information and services

English
http://147.237.72.16/eng/mainpage.asp

Hebrew
http://www.info.gov.il/FirstGov/

Knesset English Homepage

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and

for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest." Isaiah 62.1

WHO IS OLLIE?
He is a Christian pastor and is
just one of thousands of pastors
who love Israel and the Jewish people!

Write Us!
InandAboutIsrael@aol.com

NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL
Please be aware that we do not
always agree with every report given in these sources.

We are simply trying to give you a broad range of

news from and about Israel.

Arutz-7
Google News Israel
Ha'Aretz
Israel National Radio
Honest Reporting
Israel National News TV
Israel Unity Coalition
Jerusalem Post
Kol Israel English News
Kol-Israel News Headlines
Maariv International
The Medialine
Weekly News Review-- LISTEN HERE
Monday through Friday -- LISTEN HERE
Palestine Media Watch
Sha'ar Lamathil
Something Jewish
Today’s Daily News Alert from Israel
Unity Coalition for Israel News
Virtual Jerusalem News

Arutz 7 daily report
Email Service

TELEVISION

TV FROM ISRAEL
Arutz TV Live
Free Live TV from Israel
Voice of Judea TV

TV FROM “PALESTINE”
Palestine TV 28 220
PSC TV 225
Palestine Satellite TV Channel

ARAB ENGLISH NEWS

The Arab slant...

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem
SHA'ALU SHALOM YERUSHALAYIM

'PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM'

MAY THEY PROSPER WHO LOVE YOU!

PSALMS 122:6

L'hit-ra-OT be-ka-ROV!
(Be seeing you soon!)